Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and Aze Adine Ould Baja has had to endure the ignominy of having "Sidi toilets" as the official address on his identity papers. Desperate to do something about their plight, Mr Baja and his wife Khadija Makbout recently went to a local newspaper with their story.

But a few days later the local authorities moved in to block up the toilet's entrance with cement and concrete.

Mr Baja, his wife and three children now find themselves barred from the only home they had.