UN launches urgent appeal for relief aid to Saharawi refugees

 31 Oct 2015  United Nations office in Algeria on Thursday urged the international community to take the appropriate actions to meet the urgent needs of Saharawi refugees, hit by the bad weather that ravaged recently the five refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria's south-west).
 "Following the heavy rain in the country's southwest that caused huge damage in the five Saharawi refugee camps, including the province of Tindouf, (......), the UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) launches an urgent appeal to meet the needs of Saharawi refuges," the UN system in Algeria in a document.
 Saharawi refugees have been totally contingent upon international humanitarian aid for more than forty years, because of the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, supported by France.  
 Thousands of families have had their houses "totally or partially destroyed and a large number of homes lost their monthly food supply."
 Several basic infrastructures like public facilities, pharmacies, hospitals, community health centres and schools have been seriously damaged," the UN deplores.