San José (Costa Rica), July 14, 2026 (SPS) – The Secretary-General of the General Union of Workers of Saguia El-Hamra and Río de Oro (UGTSARIO), Mr. Nafei Ahmed Mohamed, met on Monday with trade union leaders in the Costa Rican capital, San José.
The meetings focused on the latest developments in the Sahrawi cause, with particular emphasis on the critical health condition of Sahrawi political prisoner Naâma Asfari, who is on hunger strike, as well as the situation of the remaining Gdeim Izik Group prisoners and other Sahrawi political prisoners held in Moroccan prisons.
The meetings marked the beginning of the Secretary-General's working tour of several Central American countries, which commenced in Costa Rica. During his visit, he held working sessions with trade union organizations, including the Costa Rican Unitary Trade Union and Social Bloc (BUSSCO), the National Union of Employees of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (UNDECA), and trade unions representing primary and secondary education workers.
During the meetings, the Secretary-General briefed participants on the latest developments regarding the Sahrawi national cause. He reviewed the historical struggle of the Sahrawi people for freedom and independence, highlighting what he described as ongoing human rights violations in the occupied territories of Western Sahara, as well as Morocco's violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
He also drew attention to the challenges faced by Sahrawi trade unionists and workers in the occupied territories, including restrictions, persecution, and the denial of trade union and civil rights. He called on the international trade union movement to intensify its efforts to defend the rights of Sahrawi workers and support the Sahrawi people's struggle to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
In the same context, Mr. Nafei Ahmed Mohamed called for stronger international trade union solidarity to protect human rights in Western Sahara and to help end what he described as the systematic plundering of the territory's natural resources. He stressed that the decolonization of Western Sahara remains the only path to ensuring the Sahrawi people's legitimate rights.
For their part, representatives of the Costa Rican trade unions expressed their solidarity with the Sahrawi people's struggle and reaffirmed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with UGTSARIO, while expanding initiatives in support of the Sahrawi cause at both the trade union and international levels.
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