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Political Economy

Morocco expelled Swedish MEP from the country as the question of Western Sahara was on the fore

Thursday, 07 March 2013
The Swedish Green Party MEP, Isabella Lövin has been expelled from Morocco as she along with other MPs attempted to visit occupied Western Sahara.

"The regime obviously has something to hide. They do not want us to meet common Sahrawi's and human rights activists, says Isabella Lövin to the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

When she and two other MEPs stepped off the plane in Casablanca on Wednesday they were stopped by the border police, Dagens Nyheter reports
"We had gone only one meter from the plane them came a dozen men in suits and took our passports," she told the paper, and continues, "they waved away all our questions and said that "this is determined at the highest level." Then we got boarding passes and were sent back the same plane".

Western Sahara is occupied by Morocco since 1975. The UN has called for a referendum on self-determination, but it's the Moroccan regime persistently refuses. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights says in a new report that the number of cases of torture of detainees has increased.
Image: Isabella Lövin Fish Eco ===>
A majority of the Swedish parliament voted in December also to recognize Western Sahara as a nation. The Moroccan regime claims that there is no abuse and has invited Swedish politicians to visit the area.

"But the Moroccan Embassy in Stockholm wrote in an e-mail while we were on the road that we are impartial," says Isabella Lövin. "You're not welcome," they wrote.

"We had a balanced program, with the visits to both sides, both in Morocco and Western Sahara in order to get a true picture of the situation," says Isabella Lövin.

Morocco's relations with the EU are currently in a very delicate position. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visited the country on March 1, together with the Swedish Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to launch negotiations on a new free-trade agreements and fisheries agreements.

EU Parliament stopped the 2011 EU fishing agreement with Morocco, partly because none of the compensation went to the people of Western Sahara.
By Scancomark.com Team

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