Demonstration in Paris for return of Mauritanian refugees

Paris- France (PANA) -- A demonstration march was held in Paris, France, to deman d the return, in decent conditions, of Mauritanians who had taken refuge in Mali and Senegal since the 1989 inter-communal riots.
The demonstrators denounced the impunity and the reluctance of the various Mauri tanian governments to throw light on the 1989 riots.
“These concern distressing events that are still awaiting full clarification.
At the same date, on April of each year, we gather to remember that event and to m a ke sure that it does not sink into oblivion,” the president of the Association o f the Mauritanian Military Widows and Orphans (AVOMM), Ousmane Sarr told PANA.
“The issue of the refugees can not be separated from the settlement of the polit ical situation in Mauritania.
Today, when talking about the return of the refuge e s, we are forced to insist on the restoration of democracy within the country,” s aid Habsatou Sall, a leader of the movement Forces de Libération Africaines de l a Mauritanie (FLAM).
Sall said the situation of the refugees, who came back into the country during t he past regime, has deteriorated these last months.
“The refugees who have chosen to return (in Mauritania) are still cooped up in t ents.
Their properties have not been given back to them.
Their situation is stil l pathetic, despite the commitment of the junta leader, Gen.
Abdel Aziz to solve t he problem,” Sall deplored.
Several Negro-Mauritanians took refuge in Mali and Senegal during the 1989 inter -communal riots, which led to dozens of deaths.