Algerian Radio
Moroccan authorities expelled members of a Spanish human rights observation mission on Tuesday after preventing them from disembarking from a plane that had just landed in Laâyoune, in the occupied territories, according to Spanish media reports.
According to the Spanish press, the delegation, comprised of political figures from the Canary Islands, was not permitted to leave the aircraft upon its arrival at the airport. This did not, however, prevent its members from expressing their solidarity with the Sahrawi people and reiterating the legitimacy of their struggle for their country's independence.
Carmelo Ramirez, the Councilor for Institutional Cooperation and International Solidarity of the Gran Canaria Island Council, reminded members of the Moroccan security services that their country held no authority over Western Sahara.
"You have no sovereignty over Western Sahara. You have been violently occupying it since 1975. You occupy it by force. You mistreat the peaceful Sahrawi population living in this territory. You plunder its natural resources. You violate all international agreements," he protested. "You have no right to be here. And if you treat us this way, how do you treat the Sahrawis?" he added.
He also informed one of the Moroccan agents that he was acting illegally by boarding the Spanish aircraft without authorization.
"You are on Spanish territory—not Moroccan or Sahrawi—since you are on board the plane. This is illegal without the captain's authorization," he asserted.
In addition to Mr. Ramirez, the Spanish delegation included Podemos MP Noemi Santana Perera and the Secretary of Communication for Podemos Canarias, Fernando Ruiz Pérez.
The three political officials had traveled to Western Sahara on Tuesday to conduct "a human rights observation mission regarding the Sahrawi people."
The ban imposed by Moroccan authorities "constitutes an unacceptable act of repression and an obstruction of the peaceful work of monitoring the serious and systematic human rights violations suffered by the Sahrawi population," delegation members stated to the Spanish press.
"Morocco maintains a regime of impunity that allows for arbitrary arrests, torture, forced disappearances, trials marred by irregularities, and the constant persecution of activists and human rights defenders, as well as the imprisonment of Sahrawi political activists for exercising their right to freedom of expression and self-determination," they added.
"We firmly condemn this expulsion and denounce Morocco's systematic obstruction of access to the occupied territories for delegations, observers, and solidarity organizations, aimed at silencing the Sahrawi population and concealing the repression to which it is subjected. The expulsion of this delegation highlights the gravity of the situation and the continued violation of the Sahrawi people's fundamental rights," the delegation stated in a press release upon its return to the Canary Islands.
In the same statement, the delegation members reaffirmed their "commitment to the defense of human rights and solidarity with the Sahrawi people, as well as to their inalienable right to self-determination, recognized by international law."
They demanded "an end to the occupation, the immediate release of Sahrawi political prisoners, and the holding of a free and fair referendum on self-determination, in accordance with United Nations resolutions."
In 2025, Moroccan occupation authorities expelled 27 foreign nationals—including parliamentarians, human rights defenders, and journalists from Spain, the United States, and Portugal—as part of the blockade imposed on the occupied Sahrawi territories.
