The group of families of disappeared and Moroccans sequestered in Tindouf penitentiaries called for lifting the siege imposed on the people retained in these camps in southwest Algeria.

Morocco on Tuesday called upon the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to put in place the procedures required for the registration of populations in Tindouf camps (southwestern Algeria), under its general mandate and recent resolutions of the security Council.

The European Commission has expressed serious reluctance to provide additional aid to the Tindouf camps, south-west Algeria.

Granting autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty to the southern provinces can accelerate pace of socio-economic development of the region, said Saturday in Laayoune, MEP Gilles Pargneaux, chairman of the EU-Morocco friendship group.

The Spanish news agency Europa Press published a story last Sunday denouncing the "drama" of hundreds of young Sahrawi women who were adopted by families in Spain then kidnapped and held against their will in Tindouf camps.