El Aaiun (occupied territories), May 12, 2018 (SPS) - The Moroccan authorities prevented Friday a Swedish delegation from visiting the occupied territories of Western Sahara where they intended to hold a meeting with members of the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Violations of Human Rights Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH).
The Swedish delegation comprising representatives of Emmaus International, Caroline Nord and Juan Obregon, who were returned on the same flight coming from Casablanca airport, had planned a working visit for a week to the occupied territories of Western Sahara, in the framework of the partnership with ASVDH to find out about the situation of human rights.
Despite the UN resolutions calling on Morocco to open Western Sahara to international observers, human rights activists and journalists, this prohibition comes within the Moroccan policy of siege imposed on the territory, and is a flagrant violation of the freedom of travel and movement guaranteed by law and related international conventions, and refutes the Moroccan claims that Western Sahara is open to everyone to visit. (SPS)
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