UN agency appeals for funds as Algerian camps housing Sahrawi refugees hit by floods

Flooding triggered by heavy rains has caused widespread damage to five camps sheltering some 90,000 of the most vulnerable Sahrawi refugees in southwest Algeria's arid Tindouf region, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

"The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its partners have begun to assist some 25,000 people -- 5,000 families -- whose homes and food supplies were damaged or destroyed," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

Over the next two days, 1,500 family tents, 10,000 plastic sheets and 400 plastic rolls to address the immediate shelter needs will be airlifted, as well as 10,000 blankets, 2,000 jerry cans and kitchen sets, the spokesman said. "Shelter materials to repair buildings will also be provided."

"The number of people in need could increase as the rains, which began last Friday, are forecast to continue until at least Sunday," he said. "There have been no reports of casualties among the refugees in the hardest hit Awserd and Dakhla camps, as well as Laayoune, Boujdour and Smara camps."

UNHCR is urgently appealing to donors for emergency funds as its 2015 budget for the Tindouf operation is around just 20 percent, leaving a huge funding gap and restricting operational activities, the spokesman added.

Sahrawi refugees began arriving in Tindouf in the mid-1970s after Spain withdrew from the Western Sahara and fighting broke out over its control. Most of the Sahrawi refugees have been living for some 40 years in the harsh Tindouf area. Endit