Azores (Portugal) July03, 2012(SPS) A UNHCR facilitated seminar began Tuesday involving 33 people from the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria and the Western Sahara Territory as well as representatives from the Moroccan Government and the FrentePolisario. SPS learns in release from UNHCR.
The seminar which taking place on the Portuguese Azores islands is organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the support of the Government of Portugal.
It is part of the “Confidence Building Measures that aim to bring together Sahrawi families who have been separated for some 37 years, the world’s most protracted refugee situation,” the release explained.
“This is the second seminar to take place and one of many attempts byUNHCR to build a humanitarian bridge betweenTindouf and Layoun,” said AntónioGuterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“UNHCR is committed to the Confidence Building Measures which aim to compliment the efforts of the UN and concerned parties to find a political solution for the Western Sahara refugee situation so that one day they can finally go home,” he added .
This is the second such seminar to take place. The first took place on the Portuguese island of Madeira in September 2011.
“The Confidence Building Measures involve the two parties, Morocco and the FrentePolisario, and the two neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, with logistical support from the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and UNHCR.” The press release concluded.
It should be recalled that other initiatives run by UNHCR under this programme include regular flights between Layoun( capital of occupied Western Sahara ) and Tindouf( Saharawi refugee camps) (SPS)
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