Moroccan authorities expelled Portuguese photojournalist Rafael Lomba from Laayoune on January 17, following his arrival in the city earlier that day. Prior to his time in Laayoune, Lomba had spent several days in Dakhla as a guest of a local association. While in Laayoune, Lomba reportedly met with Ahmed Dadech, the president of a pro-Polisario organization known as the «Committee to Support Self-Determination for the people of Western Sahara». However, he was subsequently arrested by police and expelled from the city. This expulsion marks the first such incident recorded in 2024. In June of the previous year, Spanish lawyers Inés Miranda and Lola Travieso faced similar expulsions. Additionally, Roberto Cantoni, an Italian researcher from the University of Barcelona, was expelled in May 2023 while conducting research on the impact of renewable energy installations on the region's local population. Elise Taullet, a French lawyer representing detainees from the Gdeim Izik group, was also expelled in April 2023.
