We reject in the strongest terms the decision of the Moroccan authorities to expel parliamentarians from Izquierda Unida (United Left) of the European Parliament on Friday (27 October), preventing their visit to Western Sahara. The Kingdom of Morocco has often sought to prevent access to the territory occupied militarily of journalists, activists and parliamentarians who seek to know firsthand the reality of the Saharawi people under occupation.

On arrival in the capital of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) - declared in 1976 but still under occupation - El-Aaiun, the delegation of five parliamentarians and an adviser was prevented from entering the country and forced to return to Spain, from where it had left. The parliamentarians aimed to meet with associations of relatives of victims of human rights violations, organizations dedicated to the rights of women and children, and Saharawi activists.

The Moroccan Kingdom's attempt to silence those who denounce the arbitrariness and brutality of the occupation it exercises over the Saharawi people will not succeed. In the European Parliament, groups such as the one of the delegation expelled and others have pressed the European authorities who not only neglect the international commitment of decolonization and self-determination of the Saharawi people and the serious violations of human rights of which they are victims, but that also choose to be accomplices of the Moroccan regime by establishing commercial partnerships at the expense of the natural resources stolen from the Saharawi people.

The denunciation, which the World Peace Council (CMP) joins, in irreducible solidarity with the Saharawi people, must be strengthened.

Through countless committees, associations and popular and parliamentary initiatives, this policy has been questioned and exposed with the support of solidarity missions to know the situation of the Saharawi people under occupation. Attempts to prevent access or silence the denunciations, which come mainly from the Saharawi social movement, in brave resistance, will not triumph!

For the end of the Moroccan occupation and for the self-determination of the Saharawi people, now!

Socorro Gomes
President of the World Peace Council