Bruxelles, January 24, 2015 (SPS) – “A recent article by French news agency AFP, claiming EU aid to Sahrawi refugees is being diverted, amounts simply to a manipulative and ill-informed attemptto taint the image of the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi refugees, as well as their hostcountry Algeria, which assists the refugees and facilitates the delivery of the humanitarian aid,” said Friday Mohamed Sidati, the Minister Delegate for Europe, in a statement.
“The European Anti-Fraud Office’s report in which there claims lay, dates from 2007 andwas exhumed from their archives with the aim of misleading and distracting Europe.Instead the EU continues to provide aid to the Sahrawi refugee camps.”
“Despite the claims in the eight-year old report, it is widely noted that the Sahrawirefugee camps are some of the best organised in the world. Within the camps,monitoring is carried out by UNHCR, ECHO and WPF, whilst there are many NGOspresent. The Polisario Front and the Sahrawi authorities, contrary to articles cooked upin the offices of Morocco and their agents, are cooperative, transparent and open tointernational observers.”
“Although it is below their needs, the aid is greatly appreciated by the Sahrawi refugees.Forty years ago the Sahrawi people were chased from their territories, fleeing a violentinvasion and the subsequent illegal occupation of their lands by Morocco, whosegovernment continues to block the peace process, violate human rights and is largelyresponsible for the tension in the region.”
“There exists between the donors and the Sahrawi Red Cross a reciprocal trust andproductive cooperation. The aid benefits the Sahrawi refugees in a transparent andpositive way, which is attested to daily by the international organisations present.”
“The timing of publishing the report, eight years after it was written, has the aim simplyof untruthfully tainting the imagine of the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi refugees at atime when the Western Sahara conflict is on the agenda at the United Nations and thehuman rights violations by Morocco are being discussed in the European Parliamentand elsewhere. It is clear that Morocco, with its strategy of diversion and manipulation,is trying to destabilise and deprive the Sahrawi people by blocking further aid andputting pressure on donors, notably the EU,” the statement concluded. (SPS)
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