Grant them asylum in Spain or expel them? This is the question that is being resolved at the moment and that is causing controversy. friction within the coalition government. At Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, the hunger strike by a group of SahrawisSome families with minors, who are seeking asylum in Spain. They report that they are carrying held at the airport for several weeks in unsanitary conditions and requests protection from Spain.
The Interior Minister already announced yesterday that they did not meet the requirements and that they would be expelled. But this morning, representatives of Sumar went to Barajas to visit them and ask the government to protect them.
THE Tech Sidi MP defended that these Sahrawis “are not of Moroccan origin and therefore cannot be expelled to Morocco. Morocco should not claim them either.” “Our progressive government must put human rights at the center,” he insisted.
In the same line, Deputy Enrique Santiago advocated maintaining diplomatic relations with Morocco but without renouncing “the defense of the human rights of the Sahrawi population and their right to obtain protection against persecution.” “These are not people who benefit from Morocco’s protection because they are not Moroccan and because at present they cannot access an international passport. Spain has the obligation to protect them,” he added.
Also from Spanish Commission for Assistance to Refugees (CEAR) They have spoken out. They believe that the expulsion of these people and their delivery to Morocco could put their rights and their lives at “serious risk”, which is why they added that the asylum applications still in progress “must be evaluated according to prudent criteria and admitted for a careful study”.
A few days ago, the ten Sahrawi activists requested asylum, but Spain decided to deny them, although, for data protection, the Asylum and Refuge Office does not provide details on the reasons why it refused to grant them protection. From the Interior, they explain that in accordance with the legislation, they will be returned to Morocco.
On Saturday, relatives of asylum seekers They demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior to denounce the inhumane conditions their loved ones are living in during their stay in Barajas, due to the lack of hygiene and bedbug bites, without access to sunlight and with the same food for twenty days.
