Mission Report, Algeria, May 2016

The Saharawi fled in 1975/1976, establishing the refugee camps in the south-western part of the Algerian desert, close to the city of Tindouf on the border between Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. There are a total of five camps, Laayoune (El Ayoun), Ausserd, Boujdour, Smara and Dakhla, with all the camps being located near the city of Tindouf, with the exception of Dakhla, located approximately 180 km away, as outlined in Annex 1.  

Since 1993, ECHO has been providing support to UN agencies (UNHCR and WFP) activities in the camps including access to basic needs, such as food, water, shelters, WASH and medical assistance. In the absence of formal registration, the host government and the Sahrawi refugee leadership estimate the number of refugees in the camps at 165,000. However, UNHCR and WFP humanitarian assistance programs are based on a planning figure of 90,000 refugees. In addition in view of the poor nutritional status in the camps, 35,000 rations have been added to the 90,000, bringing the total monthly general food rations distributed to 125,000 by WFP.