Algiers, 16 October 2024 (SPS) - Algeria encourages international humanitarian agencies and donors to "contribute" to the implementation of the support plan for 173,600 Sahrawi refugees in need, said Wednesday the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office and international organizations in Geneva, Rachid Bladehane.
Algeria "encourages humanitarian agencies and donors to contribute to the implementation of the Support Plan for 173,600 Sahrawi refugees in need, in accordance with the document developed in 2023 by UN agencies, including UNHCR, and a number of organizations active on the ground," said Bladehane, during his address at the 75th session of the Executive Council of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), organized in Geneva from October 14 to 18.
Algeria, which reiterates its support to international organizations and donors, "continues to accomplish its humanitarian duty towards these refugees," he said. "In accordance with its international commitments, my country continues to provide necessary assistance to refugees who are on the national territory. This is the case for Sahrawi refugees, forced to flee their land in 1975, who live in camps near Tindouf," he noted. "In addition to the aid provided by humanitarian agencies, led by UNHCR, Algeria grants these displaced people, among other things, health and education services," added Algeria’s representative.
"This prolonged situation must not, in any way, be relegated to the second place. It is our duty to ensure these refugees the necessary protection by rejecting any kind of pressure aimed at politicizing work that is humanitarian in essence," he advocated.
"My delegation believes that our meeting is not the right place to discuss the political aspect of Western Sahara which falls under the 4th UN Commission on Decolonization. It is contradictory that the same country which is the source of the suffering of Sahrawi refugees calls on Algeria to respect its international commitments knowing that it has no legitimacy (to) speak about these populations, since it neither hosts the refugees nor contributes as a donor,” he added.