"We want to convey a clear message during the meetings in Washington, namely the overriding need to open up Tindouf camps to enable the population held against their will to return home and live in dignity with their families in Morocco’s southern provinces," a member of the delegation told MAP following a meeting with Michael Michaud, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from Maine.

    During the meeting, the delegation underlined the need to conduct a census of the forcibly detained population in the camps in order to determine their identity and enable them to enjoy freedom of movement and expression.

    They made it clear that the polisario does not represent the Saharan population and that autonomy is the only consensual solution to settle this regional dispute.

    "Sahrawis support and defend the autonomy plan," delegation member and former polisario leader, Ahmeddou Ould Souilem said adding that this initiative "represents the only solution to the current deadlock."

    He added that the Moroccan autonomy plan is a "win-win approach that will enable Sahrawis to manage their local affairs under the Moroccan sovereignty."
 
    Regarding the issue of human rights, the delegation explained that this issue is used by the enemies of Morocco's territorial integrity to divert the current political process, the former polisario leader said.

   The meetings also centered on the assistance that the congress could offer to settle this conflict.

   The Sahrawi delegation held last week meetings with representatives of several UN Security Council members, US NGOs, and think tanks.

   In addition to Ould Souilem, the delegation also includes MPs Mbarka Bouaida and Zahra Chegaf.