BRITISH NGO´S WORRIED ABOUT THE FATE OF SIX YOUNG SAHARAWIS WHOM WERE GOING TO TRAVEL TO LONDON FOR ATTENDING AN EVENT

The Saharawi Women would like to express their solidarity with the six young saharawis whom were invited by British institutions to attend an importent event in the british capital and condemn the action taken by the moroccan police agains these six young saharawis.
Western Sahara Campaign UK and Free Western Sahara network jointly issued a press release to express concern about the Moroccan authorities prevention of six Saharawi young people from boarding their flight to London, where they were to participate to a peaceful dialogue on the conflict of Western Sahara.

Here is the press release: 6/8/09 Western Saharan hunger-strike students “risk everything” to get to Oxford Campaigners today expressed concern about the fate of six Saharawi students who were due to fly to London yesterday, August 4th, but were prevented from boarding their plane by Moroccan police.

The students from the disputed territory of Western Sahara were enroute to England as part of an EU / British Council sponsored initiative to increase understanding between Moroccans and Western Saharans but were marched off the plane and across the runway at Agadir airport.

The students have been given no reason for being detained and have gone on hunger-strike in the airport terminal in protest despite growing fears for their safety.

The students aged between 17 and 24 are from occupied Western Sahara and were travelling together with students from Morocco where they were all due to attend a two week residential course in Oxford exploring ways of resolving a conflict that has gone on for over 34 years.

The Moroccan students pulled out from travelling to England yesterday, all of them citing family problems for their sudden withdrawal.

The course run by the British-based organisation, Talk Together, aims to take young people from either side of an ongoing conflict and challenge them to generate new ways forward. Organiser Andrew Brown said today:“It would be a huge disappointment if participants were to be blocked from attending a project that aims to confront prejudice, foster understanding, and find new solutions”. As well as being a disappointment for all those involved in the two years of organising the project the situation also represents a genuine danger for the students.

Last year reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International expressed concerns about human rights violations by the Moroccan state against Saharawis who take part in non-violent protests.

These have regularly been violently broken up by Moroccan forces and numerous people have been arrested, tortured or ‘disappeared’.

One of the hunger-strikers, Amaidane Maimouna, 17, understands the risk they are taking but says that they are determined to continue with their protest for as long as it takes. “Either we will go to the UK or we will go to hospital” she says, “There is no third way”.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara said:“With representatives of Morocco and the Polisario Front meeting next week in Vienna to discuss the resumption of negotiations it would be a cruel irony if these young people from both sides of this terrible conflict were to miss out on an opportunity to share ideas and develop greater understanding.”