Mayuba Mohamed, 23, was kidnapped by her biological family when she went to visit them in Algeria this summer. But today her family and friends received the happy news that Mayuba has been released, and is now safe at the Spanish embassy awaiting a flight home.
Her troubles began when she arrived in the refugee camp where her biological family live in August. Mayuba had her passport confiscated and was told she would not be returning to the U.K. ever again, despite having built a life for herself in Europe.
The Marie Curie employee has lived in Spain and Britain since she was 11-years-old, after being adopted by a Spanish family in 2003, later moving to London to pursue a career.
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Mayuba was told by her father that he would rather let her die than return to her life in the West.
Her family and friends in Europe campaigned relentlessly for her release over the past months, after she contacted them through text to tell them what was happening.
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‘Until yesterday we had not been able to communicate with her for two weeks and her mental state is now very fragile,’
‘They are putting Mayuba under immense pressure to sign documents to state that she is staying out there of her own free will,’ said a friend of the 23-year-old earlier this month.
‘Until yesterday we had not been able to communicate with her for two weeks and her mental state is now very fragile,’ she had added.
Mayuba was intially in phone contact with her adoptive family back in Spain, along with friends in London, but this contact was intermittent.
In Sahrawi culture it is traditional for daughters to look after their ageing relatives, and as Mayuba is the only daughter amongst several brothers, she is expected to take up this responsibility.
The Sahrawi camp, which is near Tindouf in Algeria, was established in the 70’s for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces during the Western Sahara War. As most of the refugees still live in the camps, this is one of the most long standing refugee situations in the world.
Mayuba is expected to board a flight back to Europe later today.