Saharauis: ¿españoles o apátridas?

Resum

Human beings are social by nature, but sociability means that we are also exclusive. This is why millions of people find themselves on the margins of society. One of the groups that has been affected by this situation is the stateless, considered as those people who don´t belong to anywhere. In order to deal with this situation, several regulations in both international —such as the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons— and national contexts have been implemented. The main aims of these rules are to prevent, reduce and control statelessness. In the case of Spain, its necessary to highlight that most of the stateless people come from Sahara, which was a Spanish colony, considered as its 53rd province. Nowadays, its decolonization process is still pending, due to the Moroccan occupation after the area was abandoned by Spain, which is still its administering Power. In consequence, there is not a state succession in Sahara, so Saharawi people are not allowed to hold its own referendum for self-determination. As a result, many of them try to move to Spain to apply for Spanish nationality or stateless status.