Banjul (The Gambia), May 10, 2025 (SPS) – Ambassador Malainin Lakhal, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sahrawi Republic to the African Union, affirmed in a statement before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights that the plight of Sahrawi refugees remains the longest-standing case of political refuge in Africa, and is a direct result of the Moroccan military invasion since 1975, not poverty or natural disasters.
In his remarks reacting to the report of the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa, Algerian expert, Ms. Salma Sassi, the Sahrawi diplomat commended her work and that of the Commission and its mechanisms in defending the most vulnerable groups on the continent.
He explained that the Sahrawi people were forcibly displaced from their homeland due to a brutal invasion by the Moroccan occupying forces, which, with the complicity of colonial Spain, employed genocidal tactics, war crimes, and crimes against humanity to crush the legitimate aspirations of this African people for freedom and independence.
He added that Sahrawi refugees have lived for five decades under harsh conditions in the refugee camps in southwestern Algeria, thanks to their resilience and to the principled and unwavering solidarity of the Algerian people and government, as well as numerous other African and non-African actors.
However, he warned of the serious deterioration in the level of humanitarian aid currently provided to Sahrawi refugees, stressing that there are deliberate attempts to politicize aid and use it as a tool of pressure by some well-known international parties. This, he said, constitutes a violation of humanitarian principles and of the right of peoples to self-determination.
The Sahrawi ambassador called on the Special Rapporteur to conduct a visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps to witness their humanitarian situation firsthand, affirming the full readiness of the Sahrawi Republic to cooperate in this regard.
In conclusion, Ambassador Lakhal reiterated his country’s unwavering support for the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, emphasizing the importance of its mandate in promoting and protecting human rights across the African continent and in upholding the shared values of its peoples and states. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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