Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Tá áthas orm go bhfuil an tAire Stáit chun an abhar seo a thógaint mar bhí suim aige uair amháin sa chás seo.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Tá fós.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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I have more than once raised this issue, most recently during questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is a little less than a scandal that such little progress on this matter has been made here or at European Union level. I raise this issue this evening because of the urgent position in which two human rights activists find themselves, one of whom attended a conference in Cork, of which I am sure the Minister for Foreign Affairs will be aware, and was arrested on her way home and is now ill in prison. The other, who is in prison in Lanzarote, is in the fifth week of her hunger strike. The position in terms of her health is desperate.

I became aware of the position of the Saharawi people some time after the original annexation of this territory, the old Spanish Sahara, by Morocco. On 6 November 1976, King Hassan announced the discovery of a new and empty country and marched into what was the Spanish Sahara in violation of the natural expectation of the people to independence. Since then, there have been many attempts at establishing some form of peace. The Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, declared on 27 February 1976, is recognised by the African Union, of which Morocco is not part because of the African Union's acceptance of the SADR. They are a very interesting people. I stayed with them for some weeks and they have been visited by former Ministers for Foreign Affairs, former Deputies Andrews and Collins and many other parliamentarians.

Half of the population live in four refugee camps and are divided from their home by a long wall of 2,200 km. Scandalously, the European Union has signed an agreement through which it gives €224 million per annum to Morocco for the right, principally, of Spanish ships to fish in what are the waters of the Saharawi people. Scandalously, too, an Irish company has attempted to sell shares and to seek investment for mining rights on land the annexed occupied rights of the Saharawi people. From time to time, they come outside and attend international conferences to draw attention to the refugee camps, one of which I visited and stayed at in Tindouf on the Algerian border. I have also crossed the Sahara to the wall to which I referred earlier. I have visited the region four or five times. The United Nations agencies speak of what the women and children suffer. Now, when delegations are returning from these international conferences they are arrested and not allowed to return to Layaaoune. That is why one is on hunger strike in Lanzarote. It is also why another is in hospital.

In addition, there have been different approaches internationally to organise a UN-based referendum, but in all of the cases the Moroccan Government has insisted that it will not recognise any form of independence. For all of these reasons, in a number of prisons brought to my attention, including Casablanca, Laayoune itself and others in Marrakesh, there are civilians who will be brought before military courts, prisoners who are not allowed to be visited, prisoners being submitted to degrading and inhuman punishments, and two women I mention who have been delegates to conferences here in Ireland.

Our concern is being expressed by our ambassador to Portugal, who also is our ambassador to Morocco. However, I hope that before this weekend the ambassador will once again take up these issues and I would urge the Minister for Foreign Affairs to take it up with the Moroccan ambassador in Dublin.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Arís, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Ó hUigín as an cheist a ardú. Bhí suim mhór agam éisteacht lena chúntas. Tá súil agam gur féidir liom roinnt de na ceisteanna a d'ardaigh sé a fhreagairt. Deanfaidh mé mo dhícheall ar son an Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha.

The Government is aware of this case and shares the concern expressed that every effort be made to resolve it speedily and happily. Ms Aminatou Haidar, a human rights activist from Western Sahara, has been on hunger strike at Lanzarote Airport in the Canary Islands since mid-November. She landed at Laayoune Airport in the Western Sahara on 14 November, returning from a visit to Spain, and was denied access by Moroccan immigration authorities, having refused to state her nationality as Moroccan on her landing card. She was, therefore, returned to Lanzarote, from whence she had come, where she refused to leave the airport and commenced a hunger strike in protest. Although not a Spanish national, Ms Haidar has Spanish residency, but she is understandably concerned that any decision on her part to remain in Spain would prohibit her return to her family in Western Sahara.

We share the widespread concerns about Ms Haidar's health, as she has now been on hunger strike for several weeks. She is drinking sugared water, but had refused medical care from the Spanish authorities. Our latest information is that she has today been admitted to hospital in Lanzarote at her own request.

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. Our Spanish partners, as one would expect in the circumstances, are playing a leading role in trying to talk both to Ms Haidar and to the Moroccan authorities in order to come to a solution-----

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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They are major beneficiaries of an illegal agreement on fishing.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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-----which will resolve this issue and avert a tragedy. The case has also been discussed at EU level with the Moroccan Government, and the EU Presidency issued a statement concerning her situation on 10 December.

The position of the Moroccan authorities is that Ms Haidar is free to enter Morocco and that the immigration formalities required of her were the same as for other arriving passengers, and have been complied with by Ms Haidar on many previous occasions. The Government has also been in direct contact with the Moroccan ambassador in Dublin on this issue. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has 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.

Turning to the broader issue which lies behind this case, we remain very concerned about the plight of the people of Western Sahara as a whole. 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. It is hoped that UN sponsored talks between the two sides can be continued, although it would have to be admitted that talks to date have made no progress, the last such discussions being held in March 2008. An exploratory meeting to discuss the prospects for resuming direct negotiations took place last August, but no date for a further round of direct negotiations has been 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.

On behalf of the Government, I repeat the call by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Moroccan authorities to take all possible steps to avert a tragedy in this case. I also call on Ms Haidar, who has successfully brought world attention to the cause for which she struggles, to end her hunger strike before her health is permanently damaged.