- The man came from a flight from Morocco and applied for asylum, as he was a political activist persecuted by the Moroccan police during the persecution. He was refused, and today he had to be deported, but he has been delayed. In the event that lawyers do not accept the "appeal" brought before the National Court, he will be deported tomorrow morning.
On 23 June, the Spanish National Police refused entry to a young Saharawi at the airport of Loiu, from a flight from Morocco to Cuba, to carry out a scale in Bilbao and Madrid. The man has a passport in force but does not have the permits "in order", and with that argument they are held for about 10 days in the waiting room of Loiu airport. The activist, who has made a request for asylum, has been rejected by the Spanish Government, according to Interior.
Although it was initially said that he was Moroccan, man has claimed that he is Sahrawi, a political activist and a persecuted law student, and that he has relatives in France as refugees. The President of Zehar Errefuxiatuak, Javier Galparsoro, declared at a press conference on 3 July that the Sahrawi is afraid to be deported to Morocco and has called for his release "to any country other than Morocco". Although it had originally been announced that deportation would take place at 07:00 on Thursday, it has been delayed. The Zehar Errefuxiatuak association is planning a number of appeals against the denial of asylum. Lawyers have filed an "appeal" with the Spanish National Court to suspend deportation and if they do not accept it, the Sahrawi activist will be deported tomorrow morning, according to EITB.
UNHCR has stated that, being Sahrawi, it has the right to asylum and that it can apply for membership of the Stateless Persons Statute, as reported by EITB in a statement. The association hopes that "permission for provisional entry" will be given and that the application for asylum refusal and the request to be stateless will "take longer". “The Asylum and Refuge Office has a period of four days to report whether or not the application for asylum has been accepted,” Galparsoro said. The President of Zehar Errefuxiatuak underlined the "difficulty" of having to send to Madrid all the documentation of what happened in Loiu.
Protection of associations and airport workers
The Mugak Zabalduz and Ongi Etorri Errefuxiatuak associations have issued a joint statement denouncing the situation of the Saharawi activist. The associations claim that deportation “is not based on law or law” and “puts the life of this person at risk.” They have denounced the situation of the Sahrawi at Loiu airport and stated that the man “had to be cared for by the airport workers and by the Zehar Errefuxiatuak association”.