Sahara refugees face food shortage

The territory's status has been in dispute since 1976

Western Saharan refugees are said to be facing serious food shortages in their camps because of insufficient funding from donors.

Unless we receive aid soon, the drastic reduction will have severe consequences on the health of the refugees.

Daly Belgasmi, WFP Geneva office

The United Nations says around 155,000 refugees - who depend entirely on humanitarian aid provided by its World Food Programme (WFP) - will suffer severely from the lack of international aid.

Some 200,000 Saharawi refugees live in camps in south-eastern Algeria, while Morocco remains in control of the territory.

Both Morocco and the Polisario Front - the political arm representing the Saharawi people - claim sovereignty over the region.

The WFP says unless fresh contributions of food arrive, the refugees will be getting only 11% of their daily food aid requirements by October.

Food aid

"With the lack of international attention to their plight, obtaining regular contributions of food aid for the Western Saharan refugees is extremely difficult," says Daly Belgasmi, director of the WFP's Geneva office.

"Unless we receive aid soon, the drastic reduction in October's food package will have severe consequences on the health of the refugees, particularly for children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers."

Tens of thousands of refugees remain in camps in southern Algeria

The WFP says it requires 8,336 tonnes of food worth $3.7m - of which 80% would be cereals - to meet the refugees' food needs up to January 2003.

At the same time the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) budget for Western Sahara is also experiencing a shortfall - with only $1.5m allocated out of the $4.6m required.

"The Western Saharan refugees are really experiencing enormous difficulties," says the UNHCR's Radhouane Nouicer, who oversees operations in North Africa and the Middle East.

"Thirty-five percent of the children suffer chronic malnutrition, and 13% of the children are acutely malnourished, leading to a high level of stunting among young children."

Refugee population

Addressing the UN Security Council earlier this year, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, told the world body:

The UN says the international community has ignored the Saharawis' plight

"Western Sahara is an example of a protracted refugee situation where there are few immediate prospects for durable solutions, and where programmes to assist and protect the refugees remain severely under-funded."

"This is unacceptable," he added.

The UNHCR and WFP say they will conduct a comprehensive nutritional survey of Algeria's refugee population in September.

They say many of the refugees first fled Western Sahara in 1975 at the start of the conflict.

Both Morocco and the Polisario Front have agreed to hold a referendum on the territory's future but they cannot agree on who is eligible to vote.

Polisario accuses Morocco of trying to rig the outcome by putting thousands of recent Moroccan settlers on the voters' roll.

Morocco says they are genuine Saharawis.