Some were unable to escape from Laayoune and other towns before the Moroccans arrived. Men who managed to get out joined the Polisario independence fighters and sent the women, children and old people to shelter in Tindouf. A 16-year war ended in 1991 and hope grew that the territory would be reunited. The U.N. tried to organise a vote on self-determination, but it never happened. “We want only total, perfect independence, even if I must wait 50 years to see my family again,” says Sidi Mohammed Daddach, the 2002 Rafto Prize Laureate. (17-APR-07)

This article “War-torn Saharans reunited after 30-year wait” is published by Reuters UK on April 17, 2007 at http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-04-17T115106Z_01_L17503910_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SAHARA-REUNIONS.xml&pageNumber=1&

No country recognises Morocco´s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Morocco says independence is not possible because the Sahrawi people are scattered across four states: Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Morocco.

Dependent on foreign aid 
“Morocco says the Sahrawis are imprisoned in Tindouf. So why does Morocco not bring them home and organise a referendum so they decide their own future?” said Sahrawi rights activist Tahar Tayeb. Life on Tindouf´s barren plateau is unstintingly hard for a population dependent on foreign aid. Last year 50,000 of the refugees saw their homes washed away by floods and the World Food Programme made an urgent appeal for funds to help avoid malnutrition.

A few Sahrawis have been allowed to return home to towns like Laayoune where they say life is a little easier despite joblessness and poverty. More than 3,000 have taken part in family visits since the U.N. programme began in 2004. Those yet to see their relatives put a brave face on it. Sidi Mohammed Daddach, 50, is a former Polisario fighter who spent a quarter of a century in Moroccan prisons. He lost three brothers in the war and his father died in Tindouf in 1987.

“We want only total, perfect independence, even if I must wait 50 years to see my family again,” said Daddach.