Written question asked by Derek Conway (Independent Conservative) on Tuesday, 9 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 February 2010. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Western Sahara: Asylum

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) his Algerian counterpart and (b) the Polisario on a census to count and register the Sahrawi refugee population in the Tindouf camps; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had discussions with either his Algerian counterpart or the Polisario about a census to record the population of the Tindouf camps. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Officials in Algiers and London have discussed this topic with the Polisario as part of their regular dialogue with all parties to the Western Sahara dispute.My hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), then Minister responsible for North Africa, did discuss UN led efforts to resolve the dispute over Western Sahara with Abdelqader Mesahel, Algerian Minister responsible for Maghreb Affairs, during the annual UK-Algeria political dialogue in December 2008. The Western Sahara dispute is again on the agenda for the next round of the UK-Algeria political dialogue, scheduled for 2 March.

Secondary information