Memebers are Mrs. Guebboula Attaki bent Mohamed (43 years old), his daughter El Ghali bent Mohamed Salem Khatri (24), Said Ould Mohamed Lamine Ould Mohamed Ould Al-mokhtar (23) and his brother Al-mehdi (20). They arrived in Smara on September 19, at the 17th trip within family visits exchange operation supervised by the High Commissioner for Refugees from the southern provinces and Tindouf in southern Algeria.

In an interview with the MAP, Mohamed Salem expressed his joy of his reunion with his family in Smara and his "great relief" to put an end to the ordeal for more than three decades, adding that he took this decision after witnessing the amazing growth un the city of Smara and the climate of security and stability prevailing in the Motherland.

"All Sahrawi Moroccans sequestered in the Tindouf camps have the same hope of  returning to the motherland and escaping the harsh living conditions, abuse and insecurity that prevail there," said Mr. Salem, a dignitary of the Smara tribes.

"The Polisario leadership strives to maintain this state of dispersion and family separation between parents and their children," he said, indicating that his children which were supposed to benefit from family visits were invited to conduct military missions in the camps of the "Polisario" to prevent them from returning to their homeland.

Furthermore, he explained how his wife was kidnapped in 1979 in Madchar Errbib and taken to Tindouf, like many others, under the threat of killing of all family members.

For his part, Mr. Mohamed Saleh Ould Sid Al-alem El Idrissi welcomed the news of the return of his cousins, Said and Lmehdi, describing it a "new birth." The living conditions in the camps are "so harsh due the psychological and human suffering as well as deprivation of most basic rights endured by the people," he lamented, adding that the Polisario leaders exploit these suffering to continue the Sahara conflict and enrich themselves by diverting humanitarian aid destined for hostages.   

Mohamed Saleh, a tribal Saharawi sheikh from Smara, expressed the hope that this issue will be resolved to release the Moroccans held against their will in camps and save horrors of Tindouf camps, noting that the Moroccan autonomy initiative remains the solution to this artificial dispute that has aggravated the situation of a large number of dispersed families.

- News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas -