MADRID (AP) — A renowned Spanish activist for migrants’ rights says she has been barred from returning to Morocco, where she has lived and worked for two decades, in what she says is the latest attempt by Moroccan and Spanish authorities to silence her. Helena Maleno, the founder of the Walking Borders group that has been alerting rescuers when boats carrying African migrants fall into distress in the Mediterranean Sea, was denied entry to Morocco on Jan. 23 and was forced to leave her teenage daughter for a month in Tangier, the northern Moroccan town where the family had lived since the early 2000s. Spain’s Interior Ministry denied any involvement in Maleno’s return to Spain. Moroccan authorities said they were gathering more information on her case.
