Aminatou Haidar, right. (Photo Courtesy Saharauiak)

Aminatou Haidar, the Western Sahara human rights activist expelled from her homeland 10 days ago, has entered the second week of a hunger strike in protest against the expulsion.

"She is weak and has low blood pressure, but she remains resolute," according to a message issued by Monika Kalra Varma, the director of the Center for Human Rights at Washington's Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Haidar was given an award by the center last year.

The Saharwi people have been struggling for their liberation since 1975, when Morocco seized the territory after its colonial ruler, Spain, withdrew.

Haidar was detained, held overnight and deported to Spain's Canary Islands earlier this month. She had stated on Moroccan entry forms that Western Sahara was her country of residency. It was subsequently reported that Morocco confiscated her passport, saying she had renounced her Moroccan citizenship.

Varma said in the message that Haidar denied renouncing her citizenship. "Aminatou is determined to continue her hunger strike until she can return safely to Western Sahara with the passport that was taken from her. Spain and Morocco must negotiate her return, and the United States must encourage them to do so."

The Robert F. Kennedy Center has asked Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to investigate Haidar's case and "to establish a mechanism for the protection of the human rights of the Saharawi people..."