Chahid El Hafed, January 13, 2026
The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared (AFAPREDESA) condemns in the strongest terms the arbitrary and illegal expulsion, which occurred today, January 13, 2026, of an international observation delegation composed of three prominent Spanish representatives, immediately after their arrival at El Aaiún airport in occupied Western Sahara.
The delegation was composed of:
• Carmelo Ramírez, Councillor for Institutional Cooperation and International Solidarity of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and president of FEDISSAH (State Federation of Institutions in Solidarity with the Sahrawi People);
• Noemí Santana Perera, Member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies for Podemos;
• Fernando Ruiz Pérez, Secretary of Communication for Podemos Canarias.
The mission, organized by FEDISSAH, aimed to conduct a direct and independent observation of the grave and systematic situation of human rights violations suffered by the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories, with special attention to El Aaiún. The members intended to meet with Sahrawi human rights defense organizations and document in situ the recurrently reported violations.
The Moroccan occupation authorities immediately prevented the three members from disembarking: a security agent physically blocked the exit from the airplane, they were denied entry to the territory, and they were summarily expelled, being returned to the Canary Islands archipelago without being able to fulfill any of the planned objectives.
The delegation members denounced at the very moment of expulsion—and again upon returning to the Canary Islands—that this was an illegal, arbitrary, and unacceptable act, whose sole purpose is to block any form of independent international observation in the territory.
This serious incident is not an isolated event. For over a decade, Morocco has applied a systematic policy of absolute blockade:
• More than 329 international observers (parliamentarians, human rights defenders, jurists, and journalists from 21 countries) have been expelled or prevented from entering occupied Western Sahara since 2014, including 27 in 2025 alone.
• Since 2015, Moroccan authorities have not permitted any visits by technical missions from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
• Visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to occupied Western Sahara have remained paralyzed since 1996.
Through this policy of absolute secrecy, the Kingdom of Morocco has turned Western Sahara—divided by a 2,720 km militarized and mined wall, guarded by over 120,000 soldiers—into the most hermetic and opaque territory on the planet. Hundreds of thousands of Sahrawi families remain separated for nearly five decades, with no possibility of family reunification.
This situation of forced isolation and systematic human rights violations has worsened significantly since Morocco obtained explicit political backing from several international leaders, including the governments of Pedro Sánchez (Spain), Emmanuel Macron (France), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), and the former administration of Donald Trump (USA), which have contributed to legitimizing the occupation and shielding impunity.
AFAPREDESA demands that the international community cease being a passive accomplice to this flagrant anomaly and urgently calls for the following concrete measures:
- The immediate intervention of the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to demand an immediate end to the blockade of international observers and the unrestricted opening of the territory to UN technical missions and special rapporteurs.
- The urgent reactivation of International Committee of the Red Cross visits to occupied Western Sahara, paralyzed since 1996.
- The creation of a permanent UN human rights monitoring mechanism throughout the entire territory, including free and unimpeded access for independent observers.
- Explicit condemnation by the African Union, the European Union, and the member states of the Security Council of this systematic policy of obstruction and violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
- The cessation of any political, economic, or diplomatic support that contributes to perpetuating the occupation and forced isolation of the Sahrawi people.
AFAPREDESA reiterates that the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination is inalienable and recognized by UN and African Union resolutions. As long as this illegal occupation and deliberate secrecy persist, the international community has the unavoidable responsibility to act with firmness and urgency.
No more silence. No more impunity.
Western Sahara cannot remain the largest open-air prison in the world.
AFAPREDESA
Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared Persons
January 13, 2026