Huelva Gate : The proposed parliamentary fact-finding mission won’t be able to visit Spain

No parliamentary fact-finding mission will be sent to Spain to assist Moroccan women, working in Huelva’s strawberry fields, president of Morocco’s Commission for Social Sectors in the House of Representatives told Yabiladi on Thursday.

The Commission initiated the creation of the mission after several strawberry pickers in Spain claimed that they have been allegedly sexually abused by their managers in the fields. According to Saida Ait Bouali, the parliament has refused the establishment of such a mission as it violates the regulations, governing the Commission she is heading.

«Internal regulations suggest that parliamentary fact-finding missions are not allowed to investigate similar cases outside the Moroccan territory», she stated this morning when reached by Yabiladi over the phone, contradicting a declaration she made earlier this month.

Ait Bouali further explained that a similar mission «was sent in 2008, when Jamal Aghmani was heading the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training». However, the MP stressed that «it was an interministerial mission entitled by law to investigate cases outside the Moroccan territory».

In fact, in June Saida Ait Bouali submitted a request to the parliament’s House of Representatives for the creation of a mission that would travel to Spain and visit the farms and facilities where several Moroccan strawberry pickers operate. The proposal was refused recently by the parliament, citing clause numebr 107 from the House’s internal regulations.

The clause in question indicates that the mission must investigate «sectors, fields and institutions that fall within the competences of the Commission in question». The article, however, does not include an explicit prohibition.

Giving up on Moroccan strawberry pickers

Although the possibility of conducting a fact-finding mission in Huelva has been dismissed, Saida Ait Bouali stated that her commission has thought of a plan B. «We have agreed on two main objectives», she told Yabiladi.

«First of all, making sure that individuals in charge of assisting Moroccan women sent to work in Huelva, must be women», she argued, insisting that it is obviously hard for these workers to discuss intimate topics with men.

For the record, in May, an investigation conducted by BuzzFeed News revealed that several Moroccan farm workers in Huelva, mainly coming from the Kingdom, are allegedly abused, sexually assaulted and sometimes raped by their employers.

The report was followed by a series of complaints that were lodged by these women, reporting alleged abuses to the Spanish authorities.

Although several women have denounced the abuses and the inhumane working conditions, the ministry of Employment and Vocational Training denied the reports. Moreover, Minister Mohamed Yatim has even told media that those were only «isolated cases» and that the program signed between his department and the Spanish authorities was a success.