Rabat – Mahyuba Mohamed Hamdidaf, a 23-year old Spanish citizen is being held by her parents in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, according to Spanish daily El Mundo.
According to the same source, the young professional went to visit her family in August, as her grand-mother was allegedly seriously ill.
But as soon as she arrived in the camps, her biological parents deprived her of her passport and prevented her from returning to her job in London.
Mayhuba, who was born in the Tindouf camps, settled in Spain in 1999 after she was adopted by a Spanish couple. In 2002 she became Spanish citizen. Ever since she has been visiting her family every summer.
The young woman was supposed to return home on August 18, but few days before her return, her biological family told her that she would never go back and they locked her. They also stripped her of her phone, though they allowed her to use it for some days in order to communicate with her family in Spain.
“She is tired of this situation and just want to get out of there,” her adoptive family was quoted by El Mundo saying.
“She has the right to be free to choose his life and no parent can deprive her of that,” they added.
According to BuzzFeed, the case of the young woman has reached the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
The case has also been widely denounced by Spanish civil society who is mobilizing to help the Mahyuba retrieve her freedom.
A petition has been addressed to the Spanish Ministry of foreign affairs in order to take the necessary steps toward bringing the young woman to back to Spain.
The petition, which has been signed by 3790 people claims that Mahyuba received death threats from her biological family in case she tried to flee.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
