Morocco expels 329 foreign observers from Western Sahara since 2014
Moroccan occupying authorities have expelled 329 international observers, parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and journalists from Western Sahara between 2014 and August 24 of this year. These individuals came from 21 countries, the most recent expulsions involving two human rights defenders from the organization Nonviolence.
In a joint statement, the League for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan Prisons (LPPS) and the French Association of Friendship and Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa (AFASPA) said that occupation authorities expelled 27 foreign nationals during the current year alone. Those expelled included parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and journalists from Spain, the United States, and Portugal, as part of the blockade imposed on the occupied Sahrawi territories.
Norway tops the list of countries whose nationals have been expelled by Moroccan authorities, with 133 individuals, followed by Spain with 105, Sweden with 9, Italy with 6, the United States with 6, France with 6, Poland with 5, and the United Kingdom with 4.
The same sources added that in recent years, Morocco has expelled or barred at least seven international human rights NGOs from entering the occupied Sahrawi territories, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Nonviolence, Novact, and the Carter Foundation. These measures aim to prevent them from documenting serious human rights violations and the plundering of resources committed against the Sahrawi people.
They further noted that, for the ninth consecutive year, Moroccan occupation authorities have denied access to the occupied Sahrawi territories to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The fact that MINURSO (the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) has not been granted a mandate allowing it to monitor and document human rights violations in the occupied cities has enabled Morocco to continue committing crimes against Sahrawi civilians.
Hassanna Douihi, a member of the LPPS, stated that the occupied part of Western Sahara is subjected to a severe military blockade and a strict media blackout. These measures, he said, are “methodical” and aim to isolate the Sahrawi territories from the rest of the world in order to suppress the truth about violations committed by the occupying forces.
