US and UK students detained in El Aaiun
Article image
Today, April 19, two students from the U.S. and UK have been detained at a checkpoint in El Aaiun.
Published 19 April 2014


Kristina Nygaard, with U.S. passport, and Joanna Allan, a British citizen, had traveled to occupied Western Sahara to learn more about the concerning situation of the Saharaui population and to gather information on human rights violations and natural resources exploitation in the occupied territory.

In one of the many existing checkpoints at El Aaiun, Kristina Nygaard and Joanna Allan were arrested by the Moroccan police. As declared by the students themselves, they have been told that "they are not welcome" and they will be driven in a car, probably to Agadir.

UN body calls for the release of imprisoned Saharawi student

In a decision published yesterday, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concludes that the detention of the Saharawi student and human rights defender Al-Hussein Al-Bachir Ibrahim is arbitrary. The UN Working Group called on Morocco to immediately release him from the deplorable prison conditions.

09 April 2025

Two Norwegians Are Now Being Deported from Occupied Western Sahara

Two more Norwegians, who travelled to occupied Western Sahara to learn about Morocco’s controversial energy projects in the territory, were detained by Moroccan police this afternoon and deported.

04 November 2024

Norwegians deported from occupied Western Sahara - wanted to learn about renewable energy

Today, 25 Moroccan police officers showed up to expel two Norwegians from occupied Western Sahara. The two had traveled to learn what the Sahrawis think about Morocco's controversial renewable energy projects on occupied land.

02 November 2024

UN committee highlights Moroccan impunity in occupied Western Sahara

Sahrawi civil society welcomes a new report from the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance, and urges exhumations and identification of victims in the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara.

11 October 2024