Africa Women's Forum calls for lifting blockade on populations sequestered in Tindouf Camps

A colloquy held as part of the forum urged the United Nations Organization and international organizations to end the plight of Moroccan women sequestered in the Lahmada camps, on Algerian territory, stressing it is an illustration of the situation of African women in time of war and insecurity.

Participants, who included ministers, MPS and experts from Africa, expressed solidarity with these women forcibly held in the Tindouf camps where they endure all types of abuses, including rape and separation from their children, deploring the media blackout imposed by the Polisario leaders to hide this tragic situation.

African human rights activists who listened to testimonies of victims of this plight noted that women who are sequestered in the Tindouf camps suffer from abusive detention, military blockade and estrangement from their family.

The forum also established and organization in charge of African women affairs to open permanent communication channels between women leaderships in Africa in order to support economic, social and political empowerment of women in the continent.

The forum was held at the initiative of the Council of the Moroccan community abroad and the international institute for security and development, in partnership with the authorities of the Oued Eddahab-Lagouira region.

Participants included women ministers, MPs and experts from several African countries, including Angola, Benin, Cameroun, central Africa, Gabon, Cote d'ivoire, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Libya, Mali, Madagascar, Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.