Moroccan Occupation Authorities Forcibly Prevent European Parliamentary Delegation from Landing in Occupied Laayoune:
The Moroccan occupation authorities forcibly prevented a European parliamentary delegation from disembarking at the occupied Laayoune airport. The delegation included Jussi Saramo (Finland), Catarina Martins (Portugal), and Isabel Serra (Spain). Their mission was to monitor the implementation of the recent European Court of Justice ruling, which annulled the EU-Morocco agricultural and fisheries agreements.
The delegation’s agenda for the visit to Western Sahara:
The delegation’s agenda also included investigating human rights violations, meeting with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), and engaging with local associations that denounce the plundering of natural resources by European and Moroccan companies. The parliamentarians informed the EU mission in Morocco, as well as their respective embassies and foreign ministries, about this arbitrary expulsion.
Additionally, the delegation contacted the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, as recognized by UN resolutions and the European ruling itself. This incident further exposes Morocco’s ongoing attempts to obscure its crimes in the region.
Karama Sahara Strongly Condemns the Arbitrary Expulsion:
Karama Sahara organization strongly condemns the arbitrary expulsion of the European parliamentary delegation by the Moroccan occupation authorities and their prevention from landing at Laayoune airport. This repressive measure constitutes a blatant violation of freedom of movement and a deliberate obstruction of international efforts to monitor human rights and the legal status of Western Sahara.
The expulsion of international observers once again highlights the Moroccan occupation’s attempts to cover up its human rights violations and the plundering of natural resources, in clear defiance of international law and European court rulings. This action also reflects Morocco’s fear of any independent international oversight of its policies in the occupied Sahrawi territories.
Karama Organization calls on the European Union and the international community to take a firm stance against these repressive practices and to exert pressure to ensure that human rights and international delegations can carry out their missions without restrictions, in accordance with fundamental principles of human rights and international justice.
