WRITTEN QUESTION E-1944/01

by Raimon Obiols i Germà (PSE) to the Commission

(3 July 2001)

Subject: Food aid for the refugee camps in Western Sahara

According to a press release issued on 8 June 2001, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and those responsible for running the UN World Food Programme have called on international donors to help support the refugees (over 155 000 in number) who have been living in extremely difficult conditions in the Tindouf refugee camps (south-east Algeria) since 1976.

The UN representatives report that contributions have gradually declined over the last few months and that current stocks are only sufficient to meet the refugees' most basic needs for a maximum period of two months. If further contributions are not forthcoming the situation will become critical by September.

Has the Commission responded to the UN's calls? How can it help to alleviate the current situation? Has it called upon the Member States to make urgent contributions?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(12 September 2001)

The Commission is aware of the worrying situation of the Sahrawi refugees and through the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) has adopted a proactive approach in order to lessen the effects of the crisis.

Following coordination between ECHO, the World Food Programme and the UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), on 3 May the Commission decided on an emergency allocation of EUR 3.77 million in order to transport basic foodstuffs and build up three months' reserve. The first products funded from this allocation have already arrived in the camps. In order to deal with the difficult situation, ECHO has also amended one of the contracts which it adopted in 2000 in order to increase the amount of barley supplied. ECHO is also preparing a comprehensive EUR 11.8 million plan, almost 80 % of which will be given over to food aid since that is the area with the main shortages. This global plan was presented to the Committee on Humanitarian Aid on 5 July and was unanimously approved. On 20 July the Commission consequently took a decision approving the plan and the contracts were sent to the ECHO partners in the first fortnight of August.

With the 2001 global plan, ECHO's total aid for Sahrawi refugees in 2000 and 2001 will have reached almost EUR 30 million, i.e. an increase of almost 50 % compared with the average aid granted in the period 1995-1999.

Since the Western Sahara is a forgotten crisis and suffers from donor fatigue, the Commission's budget cannot despite all the efforts make up on its own for the UN agencies' shortfall.

During its missions and at official meetings ECHO has therefore tried to make the Member States aware of the situation. ECHO recently presented a paper to the members of the Committee on Humanitarian Aid meeting in Sweden, describing the Sahara as a forgotten crisis requiring more bilateral contributions.

The matter of the Western Sahara was tackled again in Brussels on 21 June at a high-level meeting between ECHO and UNHCR representatives. The Member of the Commission with special responsibility for external relations visited Morocco on 18 June and top-level discussions were held on the conflict.

Since the Sahrawi refugees have for a long time been living in a state of dependence, recurrent nutritional deficiencies and the lack of a varied diet have caused serious health problems (anaemia, retarded growth etc.) among the refugees. For that reason ECHO decided that under its global plans most of its aid should take the form of supplementary foodstuffs (such as milk powder and fish) in addition to the continued funding of staples such as barley.