54 Saharawis are hunger strike at Barajas airport for not receiving asylum. Sahara was the Spanish colony of Western Sahara which they abandoned in 1975. It was illegally taken over by Morocco and has been in dispute ever since
They had applied for asylum in Spain ten days ago, and the hunger strike is inside Madrid-Barajas airport detention room, a spokesman of those affected told Eldiario Spanish online newspaper.
By Insurgente The group started the hunger strike following the denial of the asylum request of 41 of the applicants and the return of one of them “by obligation,” the spokesman said.
“Many of them are students who prefer to be on hunger strike, even if they have a bad time and are arrested in Spain, rather than risking their lives and being returned to Algeria, where most are threatened,” Asman said.
They have been assigned a lawyer, without giving them the option of choosing counsel, and have been a translator of Moroccan origin, who did not specify the individual situations of the majority of asylum seekers.
Upon arrival in Barajas, foreigners not admitted as well as the asylum seekers are transferred to rooms authorized for this purpose that are located at terminals 1 and 4 of the facilities. They are owned by AENA, the airport authority, and are guarded by the National Police and private security guards.
«We are 54 Saharawis who have been on hunger strike without food and without water», stated Saad Asman, one of the asylum seekers who raised worries regarding the health of some of people who started feeling dizzy as they suffer from diabetes.
Asman confirmed that a police official told them that going on a hunger strike is «their problem» and that «this way they will not solve anything».
The 54 asylum seekers, who arrived on flights from Algeria are mostly aged between 18 and 35. 52 of them, according to the same source are from Tindouf Camp.
«We are locked in a very small room, without air conditioning for two days, the windows have double glazing, and we do not see the sun», the spokesman said
…More : https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/56965/sahrawis-started-hunger-strike-barajas.html
(CARLA BONNET / EUROPA PRESS) The Spanish Network of Immigration and Refugee Aid platform has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman. The Network pointed out that the authorities prevent NGOs from “providing direct attention to this group”, which makes it difficult for them to “carry out the assistance work that should be freely available to the person making the request of asylum “.
Several have had to be treated for dizziness and hypoglycemia, and two of them had to be taken Tuesday night to a hospital, although they have rejoined the facility with their colleagues.
The Network considers the conditions of the group of 54 Saharawis jailed since last weekend on the premises to be admissible and conditions in the asylum room of the Madrid airport to be “regrettable”.
52 of these Saharawis come from the refugee camps while the other two have studied for the last years in Cuba. The organization also says that it attempted to access refugee units on Tuesday, “unsuccessfully”, despite attempts to negotiate “with the police operation that is holding these people”.
“A complaint has been filed with the Office of the Ombudsman,” he explained, requesting the initiation of an “investigation into the procedure followed and the conditions in which the petitioners find themselves.”
The director general of the Spanish Network of Immigration and Refugee Assistance, Rafael María, demanded “the Government endow transparency and independent guarantees to the asylum and refuge processes to avoid the terminals of the Barajas airport becoming the southern border of Madrid”.
The Free 
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