The Fórum Canario Saharaui denounces new media campaigns against Morocco and in favour of the Polisario Front
The Fórum Canario Saharaui has issued an official statement strongly condemning what it understands to be media campaigns by people who ‘only seek to distort the reality of Western Sahara with fake trips that claim to seek an alleged control and observance of human rights, but which in reality seek personal public notoriety, as well as propaganda activity in favour of the Polisario Front’.
This new accusation comes after the attempted entry into Saharawi territory of members of the International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara (IAJUWS), who allegedly intended to investigate the human rights situation in Saharawi territory but who, according to the Fórum Canario Saharaui, were trying to spread Polisario Front propaganda against Morocco, which has been administering the area for almost five decades.
‘The lawyers argued that they were violently expelled, but, according to the video they made public, as well as sources consulted by this Forum, the Moroccan authorities acted as in the rest of the recent similar cases, denying them entry at the airport on the grounds that they did not comply with the requirements for access to the territory, which includes having given prior notification,’ said the Fórum Canario Saharaui.
The members of the association denounced abuses by Moroccan officials but, according to the Fórum Canario Saharaui, nothing of the sort can be seen in videos and information disseminated through social networks.
The official statement of the Fórum Canario Saharaui is reproduced below:
Statement from the Fórum Canario Saharaui on the recent denial of entry into Morocco to members of the International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara (IAJUWS), as well as other recent precedent-setting cases
This past weekend it was reported that Morocco prevented a delegation belonging to the International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara (IAJUWS), which is chaired by the well-known activist and councillor of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria for the New Canaries party, Inés Miranda, from accessing Laayoune on a flight from Las Palmas. This delegation allegedly intended, among other things, to investigate the human rights situation in the region on a mission which, according to them, they have been carrying out by periodically entering the area since 2002, but about which there are hardly any records of their activity.
The jurists claimed that they were violently expelled, but, according to the video they made public, as well as sources consulted by this Forum, the Moroccan authorities acted as in the rest of the recent similar cases, denying their entry at the airport on the grounds that they did not comply with the requirements for access to the territory, which includes having given prior notification. This is a far cry from the sensationalist definition of ‘expulsion’ that they so gratuitously proclaim. However, this small delegation denounced this action in the Spanish media in a grandiloquent manner for propaganda purposes.
In fact, one of the members of the delegation criticised the airline Binter and its captain in an exaggerated and contemptuous manner, under the pretext that, by allowing the Moroccan authorities access to the cabin, ‘those people who prevented them from disembarking were allowed to occupy Spanish territory for more than three quarters of an hour’. This is complete nonsense, as private aircraft (including commercial aeroplanes) are subject to the laws of the country when they are in foreign territory, especially when it comes to matters of security and public order. As lawyers they should know this, but pro-Polisario propaganda rules, which results in hoaxes and disinformation.
Likewise, the members of the association published the aforementioned video, in which they denounced abuse and humiliating treatment by Moroccan officials. But, afterlife of preventing them from getting off the plane, nothing of what they have excitedly amplified on social networks and in much of the Spanish press with anti-Moroccan impulses, whether right-wing or left-wing, is appreciated, accepting this account as true with hardly any verification.
Likewise, they stated that the trip was known to the UN, the European Parliament and the Governments of Spain and the Canary Islands. We are constantly surprised by the categorical nature of these statements, which are utterly absurd, especially considering that these institutions do not carry out migration controls in third countries. And Morocco was not informed.
In addition to this case, and linked to it, we have the recent visit of the far-left MEPs who were also denied entry. It is cynical and embarrassing that, in their complaint about their expulsion, they claim that they ‘were unable to carry out their work’ and that they were supposedly on missions and under mandates in a sovereign country that is not under European jurisdiction, and with which they had not previously arranged such a visit as dictated by protocol.
The question we ask ourselves at this Forum is whether, after contacts with the aforementioned institutions that have no authority in local migration matters, this delegation of lawyers previously contacted any official Moroccan entity. A country that, like it or not, has administered the territory for half a century. No, for them they do not exist, as if the Sahara were unexplored territory and they could enter there quietly to carry out ‘observation’ work as if it were a documentary about the Arctic, without notifying or coordinating with the local authorities.
From this Forum we want to put this situation into context and give it a greater degree of normality, starting from the premise that no country in the world would allow any foreigner, regardless of their political or social status (if any), to enter the country to carry out an official mission without due knowledge and, if appropriate, official authorisation. In fact, the haughty and intemperate attitude shown by the lawyers in the video they themselves released leads us to conclude, for example, that in a country like the United States, not only would they not have been allowed to enter, but they would probably have ended up in handcuffs awaiting deportation.
We would like to point out that Morocco exercises its sovereignty over the Sahara, and the ‘missions’ — or whatever these pseudo delegations want to call themselves — are obliged to follow certain requirements that must be respected bilaterally and diplomatically, far from unilateral militancy that only seeks agitation for viralisation in the media and networks, as has been happening for years, but especially in recent weeks. Beyond that, trying to impose one's own agendas by force in a region fully integrated into Morocco and with its own legal frameworks, with the aim of victimising oneself by provoking diplomatic conflicts, is a far cry from what anyone who calls themselves a good politician or lawyer should use as a legal channel to settle any controversy.
Similarly, is informing, observing or monitoring really the true intention of this incessant pilgrimage to the Sahara that these people have been making for years, knowing in advance that they will not be able to enter the territory? In other words, it is no longer that they know they will not be allowed to enter, it is that they go with the premise and even the desire for that to happen and then carry out these propaganda actions.
On the other hand, would these delegations have met with different representatives of Saharawi society to gather information from various sources, with a plurality of opinions, by virtue of the status of ‘observers’ that they themselves claim? From this Forum we know for sure that they would not have, and it would also be easily demonstrable.
The Fórum Canario Saharaui strongly condemns what are in reality media campaigns by individuals who only seek to distort reality in the region, with fake trips that they claim are in search of supposed control and observance of rights, but which in reality are in search of personal public notoriety, as well as propaganda activity in favour of the Polisario Front.
This Forum reaffirms its commitment to truth and stability in the region. We will continue to reject any attempt at destabilisation or media manipulation, especially in Spain, the nerve centre of this distorted view of reality with regard to this issue.
