After several unsuccessful attempts, the Interior Ministry returned Thursday evening 16 of the Sahrawi asylum seekers detained for weeks at Barajas airport, despite recommendations from the United Nations Refugee Agency allowing entry in Spain of those who were also detained. requested recognition of statelessness, as is the case for the majority, according to legal sources. Among the returnees was Hamou Ali, a 30-year-old deaf man for whom UNHCR had repeatedly requested access to Spanish soil from the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The plane took off this Thursday at 11:50 p.m. from a commercial flight operated by Air Europa bound for Marrakech, the same city from where the majority of Sahrawis had left who ended up seeking asylum at Barajas airport during of their stopover in Spain. The Interior Ministry refuses to provide information on return operations for “security reasons”.
Hamou Ali sent several photographs upon his arrival in Morocco. In one of them, he looks at the camera, his eyes red and wet with tears. In two other images, he appears on the plane in which he was taken back, his hands tied with police chains.
The man requested asylum in September in Barajas and, at the same time, a request for recognition of statelessness or lack of nationality. Hamou Ali is deaf and suffered from cancer at several points in his life, which is why he was treated in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, according to several medical reports consulted by this media.
According to the criteria of the United Nations Agency, if the Sahrawis requested at the airport, beyond asylum, recognition of their situation of statelessness – the absence of nationality, given that they do not do not identify with Moroccans -, this person should get it. authorization to enter Spain and not to be returned before knowing the outcome of said request, given that its deadlines are generally longer than those of asylum. Almost all Sahrawis residing in Barajas have requested recognition of their statelessness.
“Taking into account the limited time limits for the statelessness procedure and that it is not possible to resolve it within a reasonable time during the applicant’s stay at the airport, the applicant’s entry into the territory is authorized in order to continue the statelessness procedure”, declared the UNHCR Spain delegation in a letter sent to the Asylum Office, dependent on the Interior, in relation to the case of Hamou Ali.
The UNHCR reiterated this recommendation on the case of Hamou Ali in at least three letters sent to the Interior on September 12, 14 and 23, in which it also added another reason for his entry into Spain: his situation resulting from the illness from which he suffered and. the disability he suffers from, which is why he may encounter obstacles in carrying out his interviews at the airport since the young man needs an adapted interpreter who understands his language, Hassania, adapted to sign language.
Domestic sources maintain that each return case “is assessed individually before adopting a final resolution, taking into account the criteria and requirements established in national and international legislation on international protection.”
In recent weeks, dozens of Saharawi citizens have requested asylum in Barajas during their stopover in Madrid, generally on flights departing from Marrakech and having as their final destination Cuba, a country which does not require a visa. During their visit to Spain, these citizens requested protection from the Spanish authorities. Although they travel with a Moroccan passport, the majority, in addition to asylum, have also requested statelessness, that is to say recognition of their lack of nationality, given that they claim their Sahrawi identity, originating from a territory which is still awaiting the referendum. which will take place.
Many asylum seekers stuck in Barajas in recent weeks come from occupied Western Sahara, a territory controlled by Morocco and where Sahrawis who claim their right to self-determination are often victims of repression by Moroccan authorities.
