Banjul (The Gambia) 11 May 2025 (SPS) – The African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights’ Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons, and Migrants in Africa, Mrs. Salma Sassi, expressed on Saturday her gratitude and appreciation for the statements delivered by the representatives of the Sahrawi Republic, Ambassador Malainin Lakhal, and the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Mr. Cherif Dehimi, during the 83rd Session of the ACHPR’s held in Banjul.
In response to the intervention by the Sahrawi Ambassador, Mrs. Salma Sassi thanked the representative of the Sahrawi Republic for what she described as a “valuable intervention” and praised the accurate data and statistics presented regarding the situation of Sahrawi refugees, particularly the impact of displacement on vulnerable groups such as women and children.
The Rapporteur described the Sahrawi refugee situation as "one of the oldest protracted refugee crises in Africa, and indeed in the world," emphasizing the urgent need to find lasting solutions.
The African official affirmed that the mechanism under her supervision will continue to explore all possible paths to respond to the official invitation extended to her by the Sahrawi Republic to visit the Sahrawi refugee camps. She noted that the Commission is considering all the challenges surrounding such a visit and reaffirmed the African Commission’s solidarity with Sahrawi refugees.
Ambassador Malainin Lakhal had delivered a comprehensive presentation on the realities facing Sahrawi refugees, stressing the difficult humanitarian conditions they have endured for five decades due to Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara. He affirmed that the Sahrawi refugee situation is fundamentally political in nature, resulting from the Moroccan invasion in the 1970s, which was supported by colonial powers and involved extensive violence and intimidation to forcibly displace Sahrawis from their homeland.
The Sahrawi ambassador also warned against attempts by certain donor entities to exploit humanitarian aid as a tool of political pressure and to impose agendas contrary to the rights of refugees, chief among them the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.
For his part, the representative of Algeria, Mr. Cherif Dehimi, expressed his country’s full and principled solidarity with Sahrawi refugees, affirming Algeria’s continued role in providing humanitarian support and assistance.
He emphasized that a genuine and lasting solution to the Sahrawi refugee crisis can only be achieved by enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
In her response to the Algerian representative’s intervention, the Special Rapporteur expressed her appreciation to the Algerian state, commending its role in supporting Sahrawi refugees. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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