Moroccan MPs urge European Parliament to address issue of sequestered Sahrawis
Morocco-European Union, Politics, 2/21/2000

A Moroccan parliamentary delegation has urged the European Parliament-- which is currently holding a plenary session-- to address the issue of the Moroccan Sahrawis who are forcibly detained in the Tindouf camps by the separatist Polisario.

At a meeting with members of the European socialist group last week in Strasbourg, the Moroccan MPs informed their interlocutors on the Sahara issue and on the UN-projected referendum in the Sahara --a Moroccan southern territory that was formerly under Spanish rule and that was retrieved by Morocco in 1975 under the Madrid accords.

The referendum that will give the people of the Sahara a choice between independence or integration with Morocco, has been repeatedly delayed because of the maneuvers of the separatist Polisario which seeks to shrink the voters list.

The Moroccan delegation which met the Parliament's speaker Nicole Fontaine and other groups at the European Parliament described the dire living conditions in the camps in Tindouf (stronghold of the Polisario in southwestern Algeria) and how the separatists try by all means to prevent the Moroccan Sahrawis from returning home.

The Moroccan MPs' visit was meant to oppose the "campaign" pro-Polisario lobbies in Europe and European committees of support to the Polisario were projecting to stage in Strasbourg on the occasion of the European Parliament plenary session.

The European parliament had passed several resolutions on the Sahara. The resolutions that were tabled by a small group of European deputies --less than 15-- were however often amended, and limited to recall the UN resolutions on the Sahara and to call the parties to cooperate with the UN secretary general for the holding of the referendum.

Speaker of the European parliament, Nicole Fontaine, who visited Morocco lately promised she would endeavor to correct the misinformation about the Sahara issue in the parliament.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan parliamentary delegation in Strasbourg   (2/15/2000)
  President of European Parliament promises to inform parliament on Sahara issue   (2/10/2000)
  Radi denounces denigration of Morocco in European Parliament   (2/10/2000)

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