U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the following statement about Ms. Aminatou Haidar´s month-long hunger strike in the Canary Islands airport in protest over her refusal to accept Moroccan identity upon her arrival at the airport in Laayone on November 13.

"The situation currently facing Ms. Aminatou Haidar is deeply disturbing," Inhofe said. "Her hunger strike has brought worldwide attention to the plight of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara who have languished for over 30 years. I strongly support the independence movement of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara, which demands the fulfillment of a 1991 United Nations resolution calling for a referendum on self-determination in the Western Sahara. The Saharans are not refugees because they enjoy it; they are refugees because their homeland has been taken from them and they believe that, with help, they will return to their homeland; but only if they are granted the right to self-determination.

Inhofe continued, "Given Ms. Haidar´s deteriorating condition, I believe all parties should reconsider their positions and reach a swift resolution that neither further endangers the health of Ms. Haidar nor interferes with the proper execution of Morocco´s sovereign power to administer its present borders. It is my hope that President Obama and Secretary Clinton would use their influence to assist in this situation so that Ms. Haidar can return to her children and family in Western Sahara."