Brussels, 03/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - News on malpractice in the supply of food by the EU and its humanitarian aid office (ECHO) to the Saharan refugees in the Tindouf Camp (Algeria) (see EUROPE 11243) has provoked a response from an Algerian diplomatic source. “Aid is channelled in transparency and rigour, respecting the monitoring and control mechanism that has been set up”, says the source.
In support of this, reports from the official Algerian news agency APS quote representatives from ECHO and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Algeria, as well as the Saharan Red Crescent. Yahia Buhobeini, the head of the Saharan Red Crescent, warns “the international community against attempts to discourage the donors” through “unearthing a European report dating from 2007”. The report “mentioned the risks of bad distribution, not of embezzlement of the aid”, says Buhobeini, urging people “not to fall into the trap of manipulation and bad intentions”.
According to APS, representatives from ECHO and the WFP vouch that “all the stages of channelling the humanitarian aid to the Saharan refugee camps in south-west Algeria (purchasing, transporting, stocking, distributing) are subject to monitoring which rules out any risk of embezzlement”. (FB)