The Spanish province of Valencia decided to suspend assistance to the Sahrawi separatists in the Tindouf camps, accusing them of having kidnapped a young Sahrawi mother bearing Spanish nationality and having prevented her from returning to her city of residence and to her work in Spain.

Mahjouba Hamdi Mohamed Daf is one of hundreds of Sahrawi children that the Polisario sends to Spain every year for the summer holidays and who end up being adopted and reared by Spanish families.

Mahjouba who was sent for the first time to Spain when she was just 10-year old was adopted by a Spanish family and spent the largest part of her life in Spain. Last August, Mahjouba, who is now 24, made a trip to Tindouf to visit here ailing grandmother.

When she wanted to go back home to Spain as her leave from work was ending, some Polisario elements forced her father to marry her, according to Sahrawi custom, to one of her cousins. Fearing the Polisario elements, the father obeyed their orders and confiscated his daughter’s Spanish passport and mobile phone to prevent her from going back to Spain and from informing her adoptive family of her hardships.

However, Mahjouba managed to get in touch with her adoptive family that alerted the authorities of the province of Valencia where she resides.

When mahjouba’s case was made public, the head of international cooperation of the province decided to suspend the humanitarian aid that the province of Valencia used to regularly extend to the Polisario.

According to the widely circulated Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Valencia’s aid to the Polisario amounted to around 107,000 euros. The assistance was destined to the food and drinking water supply programs in the Tindouf camps.

Mahjouba’s case would hopefully open the eyes of some Spanish supporters who continue to believe in the Polisario’s propaganda and lies and who continue to support the separatists’ thesis that flouts the respect of human rights. Let’s also hope that Mahjouba’s case would make the Polisario supporters realize that thousands of Sahrawis are suffering the same fate while the international community remains completely indifferent.