Three members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were detained and later deported while trying to conduct a human rights monitoring mission in El Aaiún, the largest city in Western Sahara.
Spanish MEPs Isabel Serra, Portuguese Catarina Martins and Finnish Jussi Saramo were held at the airport for more than an hour on Thursday before being denied entry and forced to return to Spain. The MEPs had travelled to the region to assess whether Morocco was complying with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that suspended EU agricultural and fisheries agreements in the disputed region.
Moroccan Authorities Block MEPs from Entering
Upon arrival, the MEPs were not allowed to disembark. Serra shared a video on social media showing a Moroccan official preventing her from disembarking. “A man stood at the plane door and told us, without identifying himself, that we were ‘persona non grata’,” he told Euronews.
Serra claimed the expulsions were aimed at preventing him from meeting with human rights groups and Sahrawi activists. The delegation, travelling in partnership with the Polisario Front, which is recognised by the UN as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, had planned to interact with families of political prisoners and civil society organisations.
Calls for Accountability
Lawmakers criticised the Spanish Foreign Ministry for failing to intervene despite Spanish police officers on a plane to repatriate Moroccan citizens. Serra announced plans to complain to his own government and EU institutions, and called on European leaders to hold Morocco accountable for blocking their entry and restricting human rights monitoring.
The expulsions are part of a wider pattern of restrictions on foreign observers in Western Sahara. Morocco has banned several journalists and political representatives from entering the country in recent months. Among them were Spanish journalist Asier Aldea Esnaola and YouTuber Rama Jutglar, who was deported after being detained at Casablanca airport.