Three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were detained and forcibly expelled by Moroccan authorities on Thursday after arriving in El Aaiún, the largest city in Western Sahara. The MEPs—Isabel Serra (Spain), Catarina Martins (Portugal), and Jussi Saramo (Finland)—had planned to carry out a mission to monitor human rights conditions in the disputed territory, following a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that suspended the implementation of the EU-Morocco agriculture and fisheries agreements in the region.
Upon their arrival, the lawmakers were barred from disembarking and were kept on their flight for over an hour before being sent back to Gran Canaria, Spain. The mission had been organized in collaboration with the Polisario Front, the internationally recognized representative of the Sahrawi people, who have long sought independence from Moroccan control.
Isabel Serra, a member of the left-wing Unidas Podemos party, posted a video on social media showing her encounter with a Moroccan official who referred to her as “persona non grata” without offering further explanation. Serra, along with her colleagues, believes the expulsion was motivated by Morocco’s desire to block international scrutiny of its exploitation of Western Sahara’s resources and its suppression of local human rights groups.
The MEPs were planning to meet with human rights organizations and families of political prisoners in the region. However, the Moroccan government has consistently prevented foreign representatives and journalists from entering Western Sahara, where its control is disputed by the Polisario Front.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry’s response to the incident was criticized, as they claimed they had no jurisdiction to intervene, despite the presence of Spanish police officers on the flight. Serra and her colleagues now plan to file complaints with their respective governments and European Union institutions, seeking accountability for the human rights violations they encountered.
The incident is part of a broader pattern of Moroccan authorities restricting access to Western Sahara for journalists and political figures seeking to document human rights conditions. This includes the recent expulsion of Spanish journalist Asier Aldea Esnaola and YouTuber Rama Jutglar, both of whom were detained at Casablanca airport earlier this year while attempting to visit Dakhla.
Human-rights-by-Nick-Youngson-CC-BY-SA-3.0-Pix4free.
