March 29, 2024 16:41 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
PM Modi to kickstart BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign from Meerut | Kangana Ranaut in Mandi: 'Don't think I am a heroine, consider me as your sister and daughter' | Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav demand high-level probe into Mukhtar Ansari's death | PM Modi has mastered art of manipulating democracy, hurting Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge | Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest at 63
Algeria: UN agency delivers aid to flood-hit refugees in Tindouf

Algeria: UN agency delivers aid to flood-hit refugees in Tindouf

India Blooms News Service | | 31 Oct 2015, 12:54 pm
New York, Oct 31 (IBNS) After heavy rains in southwestern Algeria last week resulted in devastating floods, the United Nations refugee agency has airlifted emergency aid to 11,000 families living in five camps in the region.

"The extent of devastation in Tindouf is overwhelming, with pooled water as far as the eye can see. Thousands of families lost their homes overnight and much of their personal belongings," said the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Hamdi Bukhari.

"The airlifted relief items will partially compensate their losses, but rebuilding their lives will be an extraordinary task, and UNHCR stands ready to support this effort. Shelter, food and water are the most urgent needs," he added.

The seasonal storms damaged or destroyed mud-brick homes, shops, hospitals, schools, and roads at Laayoune, Boujdour, Awserd, Smara, and Dakhla camps, housing thousands of Sahrawi refugees.

The first of two aircraft from Accra, Ghana, brought 5,000 fleece blankets, 1,000 kitchen sets, 1,000 jerry cans, 5,000 plastic sheets, 750 family tents, and 200 plastic rolls to distribute to as many as 11,000 people, with a second aid flight due to arrive today, according to UNHCR.

The agency is leading the emergency response, with support from the Algerian Government, other UN agencies and partners on the ground. It is also leading a shelter assessment to determine the number of damaged houses that will need immediate rehabilitation before the arrival of winter.

This month marked the 40th anniversary of the Sahrawis being sheltered in the camps near Tindouf. They fled the territory of Western Sahara in 1975, making it one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world.

Prior to the flooding, UN agencies and humanitarian organizations active in the Tindouf Sahrawi refugee operation were facing funding shortfalls that restricted their regular activities, including provision of food aid.

UNHCR, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) this week made a joint appeal for $20 million to respond to the crisis.


Photo: UNHCR

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.