Two UN agencies have appealed to donors for US $1.2 million per month for food and other humanitarian aid to some 155,000 refugees who have been living in camps in Tindouf, southwest Algeria, since 1976, UNHCR reported.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) urged donor countries to "maintain adequate levels of aid" to refugees from Western Sahara, UNHCR reported on Friday. The monthly sum would enable WFP to provide 3,000 mt of food.

UNHCR said it had slashed spending on Western Sahara refugees by more than $600,000 due to a "dramatic budget shortfall". It added, "The cuts mean that many refugees will not receive clothing material and new tents." WFP has only been able to distribute 12,000 mt of food to the refugees since September 2000, despite its international appeal for $27.8 million to deliver 64,000 mt over two years.

"They depend entirely on food aid to survive. Women, children and the elderly are the most seriously affected by this erratic funding," Werner Schleiffer, WFP's Director of Bureau in Geneva, said.

He warned that unless others acted as The Netherlands, Sweden and France, "our warehouse will be empty again by September."