Finnish citizen prevented by the Moroccan authorities from entering the territory of Western Sahara and expelled from Morocco

Expulsión Teemu Matinpuro

PUSL.- On 20 January last night, Teemu Matinpuro, director of the Finnish Peace Committee, was on a leisure and holiday trip to Western Sahara, where he was going to visit a long time friend, when he was prevented by the Moroccan occupation authorities from leaving the plane at El Aaiun airport.

Mr Matinpuro had planned a short three-day visit to El Ayoun, where he would stay with a family friend, having no intention of meeting Saharawi activists or associations, nor of taking any political action.

On arrival at El Ayoun all the passengers left the plane, but Mr Matinpuro was prevented from doing so and was obliged to remain inside the plane for Casablanca.

Upon arrival in Casablanca he was not allowed to leave the airport, his passport was seized by the police and he was placed in a hotel room within the airport transit area under constant police surveillance, i.e. he was effectively under police custody without having had any proceedings, charges or legal action.

Before returning to Las Palmas, Gran Canarias, the Moroccan authorities informed Mr. Matinpuro that he was persona non grata in Morocco and handed him an official document called “notification and motivation of a decision of non-admission to the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco invoking article 4 of Dahir 01-03-196 of 11/11/2203 without however indicating what was the alleged offence or non-compliance by Mr. Matinpuro.

This extradition comes just two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell’s visit to Rabat. The EU’s top diplomat has referred to the Rabat regime as a “reliable, solid and strategic partner” despite the fact that Morocco has been linked, along with Qatar, to a major scandal unfolding in the European Parliament.

Teemu Matinpuro is a well-known human rights and peace activist, and did not expect the reaction of the Moroccan authorities, as the country already has an advanced status in relations with the European Union since 2008 and EU citizens do not need a visa to visit the country for less than 90 days.

Mr Matinpuro says that “my visit had no hidden agenda and the authorities did not ask me anything about it. The expulsion is another sign of the real situation of the deteriorating human rights situation in Western Sahara. Despite their claims, they do not want anyone from outside to even see what daily life is like in the territory. Even tourism is heavily restricted by the authorities. And until the Western Sahara conflict is resolved in accordance with the requirements of international law, the EU should not include the territory in any trade or political agreement with Rabat.”

According to him, “Western Sahara remains the black hole that Morocco does not want to show to the international public, totally contradicting its guarantees with the EU. Not to mention the way Morocco deals with the human rights situation”.