Dakhla (Occupied Territories), 19 February 2025 (SPS) – The Moroccan occupation authorities have expelled Spanish journalist Asier Aldea Esnaola and Hispano-Swiss influencer Ramila de Aventura from the occupied Sahrawi territories, a restrictive measure aimed at preventing foreign media and international observers from documenting human rights violations against the Sahrawi people.
According to Spanish and Sahrawi media sources, Moroccan police intercepted the two men on Tuesday evening at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca as they were heading to Dakhla. Their travel documents were confiscated without explanation.
In a video posted on social media, they stated that they had already attempted to travel to occupied El Aaiun the previous Sunday but were denied entry without valid justification.
The journalist and his companion also revealed that the Moroccan authorities had forced them to purchase return tickets to Madrid as the only condition to retrieve their passports.
In a statement to APS, Hassan Zerouali, a human rights activist and member of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara (CODESA), condemned this new episode of repression against freedom of information. He emphasized that Morocco has imposed a strict media blockade on the occupied Sahrawi territories since its invasion in 1975, preventing any foreign media from conducting independent investigations on the ground.
He added that international press is systematically barred from accessing the region to prevent the documentation of human rights violations, the arrest and torture of Sahrawi journalists, and the plundering of the Sahrawi people's natural resources.
The activist recalled that since 2014, no fewer than 311 foreign observers, activists, and journalists from 28 countries have been expelled from occupied Western Sahara. He denounced these repressive practices, which aim to maintain a total blackout on the situation in the region.
He called on the international community to urgently intervene to demand the lifting of the media blockade imposed by Morocco, allow foreign and Sahrawi journalists to practice their profession freely, and establish a UN mechanism to monitor and protect human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories.
In a statement, the Sahrawi organization CODESA condemned these expulsions and noted that Morocco is intensifying its military and media lockdown on occupied Western Sahara.
For its part, the Sahrawi Instance Against Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM) expressed deep concern over these restrictions, denouncing Morocco's blatant disregard for international law and United Nations mechanisms. It stated that these repressive practices once again prove the Moroccan regime's determination to evade its legal obligations regarding respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
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