Efe Madrid
Madrid
Updated Friday, January 19, 2024-22:48
The Ministry of the Interior has granted the extension of her residence permit to the Sahrawi activist Aminatu Haidar, who will be able to return to Spain after traveling to Western Sahara to say goodbye to a seriously ill family member, her lawyer Fátima Mohamed Fadel has informed Efe.
The General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders has notified Haidar that the residence permit that he has held for 16 years in Spain is renewed, so he was able to travel tonight to El Aiuún from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with the confidence that he can come back without any problem.
In fact, and furthermore, the Immigration Secretariat had previously informed the Saharawi activist of the authorization to return to Spain, before the Interior finally resolved the extension of her residence, according to her lawyer.
Last Wednesday the lawyer confirmed that Aminatu Haidar wanted to travel to Western Sahara to say goodbye to a family member and would not be able to return to Spain as the extension of residence she maintained had been denied.
The lawyer reported that Aminatu was going to travel that same day to El Aaiún "without authorization to return", which she had appealed to Court number 14 of Madrid.
However, since Wednesday, the defense of the activity has received the two authorizations that allow it to travel and return: the return authorization from Immigration and the extension of the residence from the Interior.
In 2009, Aminatu Haidar went on a 32-day hunger strike at the Lanzarote airport after being expelled from El Aaiún by the Moroccan authorities, who finally authorized her return.