Spain has deported all supporters of the separatist Polisario Front who were present at Madrid-Barajas Airport back to Morocco after denying them asylum due to a lack of evidence that they were subjected to "persecution" or any form of "abuse." This comes weeks after they entered the country with Moroccan passports, seeking asylum.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, citing the lawyer representing the individuals, the Madrid authorities completed the deportation of the last group of 22 people, who were flown to Marrakech-Menara Airport on a flight operated by Air Europa on Thursday at midnight.
The same source confirmed that these individuals, who were born in the Saharan provinces, had their asylum requests rejected by Spanish authorities after a month at the airport, similar to 30 others who were deported in the first week of October.
Those deported claimed they were being "persecuted" by Moroccan authorities, presenting documents proving their "Sahrawi origins" and asserting that they had participated in "separatist demonstrations" or belonged to student groups supporting the Polisario Front.
Lawyers for the asylum seekers attempted to convince the Spanish Ministry of Interior to grant them asylum and avoid deporting them to Morocco by alleging that they were "subject to repression, persecution, and arrest," claiming that some had been under threat for more than 10 years due to security files held against them by Moroccan authorities because of their affiliation with the Polisario Front.
However, the Spanish Ministry of Interior refused to overturn or delay the deportation decision, considering that the individuals in question were Moroccan citizens who were not facing any threats, as they had entered Madrid with Moroccan passports. Therefore, the ministry decided to deport them directly to the Kingdom of Morocco.
The Spanish government ignored attempts by civil activists and political actors supporting the separatist agenda to influence the Ministry of Interior's decision. This included efforts by Ione Belarra, former minister in Pedro Sánchez’s government and Secretary General of the "Podemos" party, which is part of the "Sumar" leftist alliance participating in the ruling coalition. Belarra attempted to visit the deportees at the airport.
