Barcelona (Spain), 16 November 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi General Union of Workers (UGTSARIO) participated in the International Trade Union Forum in Barcelona, organized by the Spanish Labor Committees Foundation for Solidarity, under the theme “Trade Union Work Under Occupation in Western Sahara and Palestine.”
The Western Sahara session featured interventions by the Union’s Secretary-General, Mr. Nafei Ahmed Mohamed, and former political prisoner Ms. Mahfouda Bamba Lafkir, President of the Committee of Employees and Workers Arbitrarily Dismissed by the Moroccan occupation. They addressed the experience of Sahrawi workers in the refugee camps and under occupation.
The Secretary-General discussed the situation of Sahrawi workers and the challenges facing trade union activity under occupation, praising the role of the Spanish Labor Committees in supporting just causes and standing with the Sahrawi people. He also called for intensified efforts to oppose the occupation and counter attempts by some international parties to legitimize the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
For her part, Ms. Mahfouda Bamba Lafkir outlined the marginalization, unemployment, repression, and grave human rights violations endured by the Sahrawi people in the occupied Western Sahara. She affirmed that such abuses do not deter activists from continuing to defend their legitimate rights to freedom and independence.
Participants in the forum reaffirmed the firm position of the Spanish Labor Committees in supporting the Sahrawi people and their just cause, condemning any initiative that contradicts United Nations resolutions and the rulings of the European Court of Justice. They stressed that any attempt to bypass the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination is unacceptable.
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