Morocco expels Spanish lawyers from Laayoune

Morocco expelled, Saturday March 15, a group of Spanish legal experts from Laayoune—an expected decision. The delegation had announced its intention to travel to Western Sahara just hours before departing from the Canary Islands to Laayoune.

As with previous expulsions of Spanish nationals, the legal experts justified their visit as a «human rights observation mission». They had planned to meet with pro-Polisario associations, notably the «Sahrawi Instance Against Moroccan Occupation», founded by Aminatou Haidar after her resignation from CODESA (Collective of Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara).

Since the beginning of the year, Moroccan authorities have expelled several Spanish nationals from Western Sahara, including three deputies from the Basque Regional Parliament, two journalists, members of associations close to the Polisario, a trade unionist, and these legal experts.