First family visit-exchange operation ends
Morocco-Algeria, Politics, 3/11/2004

The first group of Moroccans sequestered in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps (southwestern Algeria) left this Wednesday morning the city of Laayoune, after having spent five days with the their relatives, part of the UNHCR family visit exchange program.

The group of 21 persons who participated in the humanitarian operation that allowed Moroccans from Laayoune and co-citizens held in the camps to visit relatives they have not seen for over 20 years left the Laayoune airport at 9:20 am (Local and GMT time) onboard a plane chartered by the United Nations.

Later on the same day, the same plane brought back to Laayoune 19 participants who spent five days with their relatives in the camps. They said exchanging family visits is a very important humanitarian action and hoped that it will mark the beginning of reunification between dislocated families after years of separation.

The program started on Friday when a first group of persons sequestered in the camps landed in the city of Laayoune and another group of Sahara families from the Moroccan southern city of Laayoune flew to the Tindouf camps on the same plane.

The exchange of visits between relatives is part of the UN confidence-building measures that also include opening one month ago a phone line after an eight-month suspension, as well as mail exchange.

A Moroccan official expected that the program will be carried on for 6 months with a weekly frequency of two round trip flights, but warned that it could be halted in case of any other provocative behavior, such as the political statement made by a participant upon arrival in Laayoune.

Hamid Chabar, governor in charge of coordination with the MINURSO (French acronym for the UN mission in the Sahara), said other participation will be extended to families from other Moroccan southern provinces, denying, by the same token, allegations by the Polisario separatists that Morocco is excluding persons from other Moroccan cities from the family visit-exchange program.

Previous Stories:
  Sahara families-exchange program to be continued for 6 months, Moroccan official   (3/10/2004)
  Moroccan women call UN SG to intervene for relief of moroccans sequestered in Tindouf   (3/9/2004)
  Family exchange seeks to relieve blockade of Moroccans sequestered in Tindouf, official   (3/6/2004)

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