6 a.m. As soon as the DC-9 touched down at Geneva airport, Ahmed Hersi, the ICRC flight coordinator, rushed towards the plane with ICRC stickers under his arm. Ahmed and the crew members exchanged smiles. All of them had taken part in the previous repatriation operation carried out last February.

While the captain attended to administrative matters, Ahmed and a mechanic stuck the ICRC emblem on the plane’s fuselage to make it a “real” ICRC plane.

A four-hour flight brought us within sight of the Algerian coast. Then we flew over an ocean of sand, with dunes, crevices and a few stunted trees that were miraculously growing in the ochre-coloured waste. Finally we came into view of Tindouf, where the first group of prisoners, who had been regularly visited by the ICRC, were awaiting our arrival.

At Tindouf airport the pilot announced that the outside temperature was 40 degrees centigrade. We were met by Algerian policemen, to whom we handed over our passports before going off to seek our colleagues who had come several days earlier to prepare the operation.

Since there was not enough room in the plane for the 243 former prisoners, two flights would be needed to bring them back home. The regional delegate for North Africa, Harald Schmid de Gruneck, told us that 122 men in particularly bad health would be flown out first. Half an hour later, two buses brought these men in from Rabouni, along with Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC coordinator for detention-related activities.

Many of those who got off the bus were in such poor shape that they had difficulty walking. They headed towards airport security, expressionless and silent. Dorothea, Mario Ombelli and Alain Vuilleumier - two ICRC doctors who had spent five days with the men preparing them for the trip - accompanied the former prisoners to the airport lounge, where they were given colour-coded cards showing what type of ailment they were suffering from.

Conflicting emotions

The atmosphere in the lounge was tense: everyone stared at the plane through the only window that gave onto the runway. Finally, a soldier opened the door and the men filed towards the back of the plane at a slow pace. Only when they were actually on the stairs did they begin to smile, some saying a few words of thanks to Harald. Once aboard, they were installed in their seats by the two doctors, with help from the crew. It was nearly an hour before the last man had fastened his seat belt.

After the plane took off, the men’s faces began to relax and conversation could be heard: everyone had been afraid that the flight would be cancelled at the last moment. Now the men could express the conflicting emotions they felt: their joy at being free, their sadness at having left comrades behind. Some even felt guilty for having abandoned them.

For many, however, the first and foremost concern was how they were going to be received back home after the 20 years they had spent in detention. One of them had been captured in January 1975 and hadn’t seen his family or his country in 28 years.

Family contact through ICRC visits

For these men who had been cut off from the world for so long, the visits paid by ICRC delegates provided an opportunity to receive news of their families. Ali very proudly showed us pictures of his daughter, who is studying in the United States. “Thanks to these visits,” he said, “we were able to have at least some contact with the outside world.”

Fifteen minutes into the flight, Harald announced that the plane had entered Moroccan air space and the former prisoners broke out in smiles, cheering and congratulating one another.

Half an hour later, the DC-9 touched down at Agadir airport, on the Moroccan coast. As soon as the doors opened, officers rushed in to greet and embrace their comrades. There were some emotional reunions between old friends. As for the Moroccan authorities, they warmly thanked the ICRC team for their work.

When the former prisoners finally set foot on the soil of their native land, they were treated to an official welcome before being attended to by military doctors and nurses. The most serious cases were taken to hospital in an ambulance.

"Thank you for your help and may God protect you," Ali called out to us as he headed off. "And please don’t forget our comrades who remained behind."