Four members of the European Parliament, on their way to study human rights in Western Sahara, have been denied entry to Morocco. They were headed for Laayoune, a city in a part of mineral-rich Western Sahara annexed by Morocco in 1975. The legislators had announced their plans in a letter to the Moroccan ambassador to the European Union on 25 February.
The ambassador’s reply, dated 5 March, arrived while the parliamentarians were already in transit, the leader of the delegation said on Thursday. The ambassador’s letter said the members of Parliament held “excessive politicized views against the interests of Morocco.” It went on to say that Morocco did not expect the visit could “provide an objective, credible report,” and the visit would not be welcomed. Ivo Vajgl, of Slovenia, the leader of the delegation, said the four landed in Casablanca, where they were met by local police, refused entry and put back on their planes.