Sahrawi sequestered in Tindouf camps decides to stay in Morocco

Babaha Ahmed Hammoud, currently in Morocco as part of the visit exchange program between families in southern Morocco and their relatives in Polisario-controlled camps, decided to "stay with his family in Dakhla (southern Morocco) and not return to the camps," said the Office of coordination with Minurso (French acronym for the UN mission in the Sahara) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the Office, Hammoud, who was visiting Dakhla from December 17 to 22 with his eight-year old son, asked the repatriation of other members of his family that stayed in Tindouf camps (Algeria), after he signed documents for voluntary repatriation to is homeland, Morocco, under the aegis of UNHCR.

Local authorities have taken the necessary measures to provide the necessary conditions for Babaha's reintegration in Morocco, underlined the Coordination Office.

The visit exchange program is aimed at establishing contact between families in southern Morocco and their relatives in the Polisario controlled camps in Algeria. Most of these families have not seen each other for over 25 years because of the Sahara dispute that opposes Morocco to the Polisario, an Algeria-backed separatist group claiming the separation of Morocco's southern provinces (known as the Sahara), that were retrieved from the Spanish occupation in 1975 under Madrid accords.

To date, 28 visits have been exchanged between families in southern Morocco and Tindouf camps, numbering 1,421 beneficiaries.

Last April, two sisters that took part in the visit exchange program also decided to stay in Morocco with their four children.