21 January, four Norwegians were expelled from the city of Smara in occupied Western Sahara. The police told they were indeed welcome to any other place in the area, as long as they immediately departed Smara.

After three hours of driving, the group arrived the little coastal town of El Ouatia in Southern Morocco. They checked into a guesthouse, and planned to travel to El Aaiun in Western Sahara the following morning.

But that was never going to happen.

For at 9:30PM, the group got visit at the guesthouse by local authorities.

"A man in a suit came to us, introduced himself as the chief of the district, and said that we were not allowed to travel further south from where we already were", Ms. Mari Fjermedal of Red Youth of Norway told the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara.

"He said that we could travel to other places, such as Tan Tan, Guelmim, Agadir or other places further north, just not further south", Fjermedal explained.

This means that six Norwegians were expelled from Western Sahara on 21 January 2017, in two incidents.

The group had planned to meet with Saharawi civil society to talk about the Norwegain companies Sea Tank Cahrtering and Gezina, who are acting in violation of Norwegian government's advice on business operations in Western Sahara. The two shipping companies are responsible for transports of fish oil from the occupied territories of Western Sahara into France.

The picture above is taken by Saharawi activists in Smara, who were present as the Norwegians were deported. See local coverage of the incident here.