Occupied El Aaiun, January 16, 2026 (SPS) – The French Association of Friends of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (AARASD) denounced, in a statement issued in Paris, the expulsion by Moroccan authorities of a political delegation from the Canary Islands, which was prevented from entering the occupied territory of Western Sahara.
On January 13, 2026, Mr. Carmelo Ramírez, Ms. Noemí Santana Perera, a deputy from the Podemos party, and Mr. Fernando Ruiz Pérez, communications secretary of Podemos Canarias, were expelled and barred from landing in El Aaiún, the capital of Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1976.
According to the French Association, this expulsion is part of a systematic policy pursued by Morocco since the beginning of 2026 aimed at closing off the occupied territory to any international delegation suspected of supporting the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence. The Canarian delegation had intended to meet with representatives of Sahrawi civil society and to gather information on the human rights situation in the territory.
The Association strongly condemns this recurring practice by the Moroccan authorities, which seeks to isolate the Sahrawi people and prevent any contact with the outside world, effectively turning Western Sahara, in its words, into an “open-air prison” for its inhabitants.
The Association of called on the United Nations and the European Union to act urgently to ensure that the occupied territory is opened to international observers, parliamentarians, and human rights organizations. It also demands that the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) be granted an explicit mandate to monitor and protect human rights.
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