Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2009
56 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide details in the case of a person (details supplied) who has been given permission to return to their home at Layoune but whose passage was subsequently blocked by Moroccan authorities. [46871/09]
View answer65 Deputy Mary Upton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the plight of the people of Western Sahara; if he has had contact with the Moroccan Ambassador to explain his view on the topic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46872/09]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 65 together.
I am aware of the case of Ms. Arminatou Haidar, a human rights activist from Western Sahara who has been on hunger strike at Lanzarote Airport in the Canary Islands since mid-November. I understand that Ms. Haidar was returned against her will to Spain after she landed at Laayoune Airport on 14 November and was denied access to Morocco, having refused to state her nationality as Moroccan on her landing card. Although not a Spanish national, Ms. Haidar does have Spanish residency but is understandably concerned that any decision on her part to remain in Spain would prohibit her return to her family in Western Sahara.
There are obvious concerns about Ms. Haidar's health as she has now been on hunger strike for several weeks and has refused medical care from the Spanish authorities. Along with our EU partners, we are closely following the case and our Embassy in Lisbon (which is accredited to Morocco) is also maintaining contact with EU missions resident in Rabat. The Government has also been in contact with the Moroccan Ambassador on this issue. I have written to the Ambassador regarding the concern which exists about Ms. Haidar's health and well-being and to encourage the Moroccan Government to take speedy steps to alleviate and resolve the situation.
I remain very concerned about the plight of the people of Western Sahara as a whole and spoke on this issue at a conference organised by Ethical Development Action in Cork last April. Ireland continues to support the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara as well as the continuing engagement of the United Nations in the search for a political solution in Western Sahara based on the principle of self-determination. UN Secretary General Ban's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, is continuing his efforts to convene a fifth round of direct negotiations between the two sides, following the last such discussions held in March 2008 in Manhasset, New York. An informal meeting to discuss the prospects for resuming direct negotiations was held in Duernstein, Austria, last August but without any date for convening the fifth round of direct negotiations being set.
The Government regularly communicates its views on the situation in Western Sahara to the Moroccan authorities, including through the Moroccan Ambassador here in Dublin. We also raise issues related to human rights and to the importance of safeguarding freedom of movement and of expression for human rights defenders in both Morocco and Western Sahara.. These issues are also raised at EU level within the framework of the EU-Morocco dialogue. The most recent Association Council with Morocco took place last week, in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The EU used this occasion to convey its concerns over the situation of Western Sahara as well as the need to safeguard the rights of both Moroccan and Saharawi human rights defenders were raised.
