ANGELINA JOLIE
GIVES 100,000 TO REFUGEES
Copyright 2002 Associated Press
[ September 12th 2002 ]
Tomb
Raider star Angelina Jolie has donated dlrs 100,000
to provide food for Western Sahara refugees, United
Nations aid agencies said Friday. The actress,
who is a goodwill ambassador for the U.N High
Commissioner for Refugees, gave the money to UNHCR
and the World Food Program to help support some
155,000 refugees living in camps in southeastern
Algeria.
"I was
distressed when this desperate situation was brought
to my attention. I hope to encourage other people
to make themselves aware of this crisis facing
the Western Saharan refugees and do what they
can to help," Jolie said in a statement. The refugees
have been living in camps since Morocco annexed
the mineral-rich Western Sahara in 1975. They
are almost entirely dependent on aid for survival.
WFP said
last month it would be forced in October to slash
the food it provides each refugee to the equivalent
of 231 calories a day unless it receives new donations.
The standard U.N. refugee ration totals 2,100
calories daily. WFP said it needed donations of
8,336 metric tons (9,170 short tons) of food,
or dlrs 3.7 million, to support the refugees for
four months.
Fighting
between Moroccan forces and Polisario Front rebels
ended in 1991 with a U.N.-negotiated cease-fire
that called for a referendum on whether Western
Sahara would become independent or part of Morocco.
But U.N. efforts over the past 11 years to organize
the referendum have been frustrated by disputes
over who is eligible to vote.
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