Rabat- Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Yang Guangyu announced China’s donation of MAD 900,000 (DZD 10 million) to the Sahrawi Red Crescent (SRC) to support Sahrawis in Tindouf camps in Algeria.
Guangyu made the announcement in SRC headquarters, saying that the donation is dedicated to provide necessary food aid, particularly for the women, children, and elderly of the Tindouf camps.
Guangyu told Algeria Press Service that the Chinese embassy to Algeria resolved to grant the donation on the night before Ramadan to help ease the suffering of children, elderly and women refugees, noting that they are especially vulnerable to the difficult circumstances in which they have been living for more than 40 years.
Meanwhile President of Algerian Red Crescent Saida Benhabyles manifested her sympathy with the Sahrawi refugees and hailed China’s initiative, affirming that it will bring happiness to the refugees.
President of the Sahrawi Red Crescent Yahia Bouhabini expressed his gratitude for China’s humanitarian initiative, saying that the Sahrawi refugees did not choose to live in camps as they have been forced to for over four decades.
Bouhabini hailed China’s continuous efforts to support those caught in the middle of war conflicts.
China’s stance on Western Sahara and Morocco’s autonomy proposal remains unclear since China abstained from voting on the UN Security Council resolution 2414, adopted April 27, to extend MINURSO’s mandate until October 31.
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The issue of humanitarian aid to the Tindouf camps remains a hotly debated topic. While the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in his annual report on the Situation in Western Sahara expressed about the lack of humanitarian aid to the Tindouf camps, a report issued by the European Union anti-fraud committee (OLAF) published in 2015 revealed that the Polisario and Algerian officials were involved in the embezzlement of humanitarian aid for the past four decades.
OLAF’s findings confirmed the findings of a 2005 UNHCR reports, which revealed the existence of a large scale embezzlement of humanitarian aid destined to the Tindouf camps over the past four decades.
