8/2/2019 Hunger strike in Finland
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Finnish officials do not give recognition to Sahrawi ethnic
background
Ali Lahcen Elaabed, who campaigns for Western Saharas
independence in Finland, has undertaken
today a hunger strike to convince the Finnish officials to
register him as a citizen of Western Sahara
instead of Morocco. Ali Lahcen was born in the city of Smara, in
the non-self governing territory of
Western Sahara. Today Ali Lahcen Elaabed received a second
negative decision for his asylum
application, and he will be deported to Western Saharan
territory, illegally occupied by Morocco.According to Finnish
officials, his destination of deportation is Morocco.
Ali Lahcen Elaabed arrived in Finland on December 14 th 2009,
after escaping the intimidation of
Moroccan police. During the asylum seeking process, he has
stayed in Pudasjrvi reception centre. He
has expected the recognition of his ethnicity since his
arrival.
The association Friends of Western Sahara in
Finland is concerned about the deportation of Ali
Lahcen, and the fact that Finnish government
officials do not recognise his ethnic background(Sahrawi). We
believe that Ali Lahcen has a right to
asylum in Finland on humanitarian grounds. We
demand that the Finnish State recognise the
ethnic background of Ali Lahcen, and takes action
on his case in order for him to end his hunger
strike.
There is a high likelihood that Ali Lahcen will be
harassed by Moroccan officials on his return, as he
has been active in the Sahrawi independence movement. He has
already once been incarcerated for his
activities in 1999.
The state of human rights in Western Sahara is abysmal, and
Moroccan law prohibits all public activity
that can be interpreted as supporting the independence of
Western Sahara. For example, public display
of the flag of Western Sahara is forbidden. The conflict in
Western Sahara has not been getting
international state level attention, even though there is a
serious human rights problem.
Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony that Marocco has
illegally occupied since 1975, when Spain
abandoned the area. The Sahrawi are the natives of Western
Sahara. According to the UN statement,
Morocco has no historical connection to the area. There have
been several attempts to negotiate
Moroccan retreat, but Morocco has not complied. The area has
large phosphate deposits, and regionalwaters are good fishing
areas. An estimated 160000 Sahrawis live in Algerian refugee
camps
dependent on UN aid.
The Friends of Western Sahara Finland has been active since 2011
and registered as a voluntary
association in 2012. The aim of the association is to promote a
fair solution to Western Saharan conflict
and find solutions to improve the humanitarian situation in
Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria.
