The conflict in Western Sahara – once a Spanish colony – has resulted in 5 decades of displacement for the Sahrawi people, with an estimated number of about 173,000 refugees living in 5 isolated camps near Tindouf, in western Algeria. People living in the camps face severe challenges, including limited access to food and water.
‘This is a place of extremes: it is either extremely hot or extremely cold’, says Salem Bouchraya, head of office at the NGO Solidaridad Internacional Andalucía. ‘When we first came here, only lizards could survive.’
The region’s harsh desert, called hamada in Arabic, consists of barren, flat, seemingly endless rocky plateaus. Its extreme climate and lack of resources exacerbate the refugees' hardships, further compounded by global crises such as Russia's war on Ukraine, which have driven up food prices and severely impacted an already struggling refugee population.
Humanitarian aid is crucial to Sahrawi’s survival and the European Union has been a long-standing humanitarian actor in this crisis, contributing €306 million in emergency funding since 1993.
In 1975, the Sahrawi people, fleeing from war, crossed into Algeria from the contested Western Sahara territory.
About an estimated 173,000 Sahrawi refugees live in 5 refugee camps in western Algeria. This harsh and isolated desert environment significantly restricts livelihood and economic opportunities, making them heavily reliant on humanitarian aid.
The European Union has contributed to humanitarian aid operations in support of Saharawi refugees since 1993, allocating over €306 million to UN agencies and NGOs.
This funding has addressed the main needs in the camps such as food, nutrition, water provision, sanitation, healthcare, and education.
Finding water in the desert is never easy, let alone safe drinking water.
The European Union funded 2 high-quality reverse osmosis water purification units that can function simultaneously and clean enough water to meet the needs of the entire population of the camps.
If one breaks, the other station can double the production and still guarantee the minimum emergency level of water.
Once purified, water needs to be stored and made ready for distribution.
With European Union funds, the NGO Solidaridad Internacional Andalucía and Oxfam built several concrete water storage towers collecting water for the camps.
Water then spreads through water distribution points. It is estimated that the EU-funded water network is distributing over 70% of the total water reaching the Sahrawi families, helping to reduce their dependency on unreliable and environmentally unfriendly water trucking.
Families can store water in individual plastic tanks or bladders.
Thanks to international support, families in the camps, despite the water scarcity in a desert environment, have access to 20 litres per capita per day, which is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be the minimum quantity to ensure basic personal and food hygiene.
Functioning sanitation facilities are extremely important in schools, where children spend a good part of their day.
With European Union funding, the NGO CISP has built walled, covered water tanks in 21 schools to ensure that school kitchens and school toilets always have safe, clean water for their students.
The isolated location of the camps severely limits job opportunities, making it difficult for many families to afford food.
The UN estimates that 8 out of 10 Sahrawi refugees rely on humanitarian aid for their daily food intake.
The European Union funds the World Food Programme to regularly distribute food to the camps.
Sahrawi refugees have managed to organise a community-based school system that provides learning opportunities for children and adolescents.
The European Union collaborated with UNICEF and Sahrawi communities to develop a strategy for training teachers and providing schools with learning materials to enhance education quality.
