Rejected by a large majority, the amendment introduced by three MEPs from extreme left wing, was to inject EUR 150 million to the Union's budget for next year.

 

MP Gill Neena, rapporteur for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, said before the opening of the votes for various amendments to the draft budget that the EU funds will go to serious partners of the EU counter-terrorism and sustainable development, particularly in Africa, as well as to resolve issues related to immigration and radicalization.

 

Explaining to MAP the reasons for the rejection by the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the amendment, MEP Cristian Dan Preda pointed out that "the blows that come from extreme left wing to make the issue Sahara a big political problem are unacceptable, whereas Morocco deploys enormous efforts to the development of this region. "

 

 "We must respect our partner, Morocco and appreciate the efforts of our Moroccan partners in the region and not to yield to political coups by parties from extreme left," stressed MEP from the European People's Party group (Democrats -Chrétiens). Dan Preda also said that the EU will not continue to support a separatist movement which squanders the money of European taxpayers, especially the case of embezzlement by the Polisario of humanitarian aid, unveiled by the European Office (OLAF) is still on the table.

 

The case of massive embezzlement of EU humanitarian aid, intended for the sequestered in Tindouf camps are also on the table. European aid is estimated at 10 million. It is awarded annually by the European Commission and intended to reach populations in Tindouf camps.

 

The OLAF report, unveiled in 2015, emphasizes that varying amounts of assistance funded by the European Commission are diverted from their intended recipients for several years by Polisario. This document states that one of the causes of the large-scale trafficking is the lack of visibility as to the exact number of beneficiaries because of lack of a census.

 

The census is as a major concern of the European Union. In Brussels, MEPs, experts and EU officials continue to draw the EU's attention to the urgency of knowing the exact number of beneficiaries from EU aid.

 

Each time before the Committee on Budgetary Control of the European Parliament, this issue is raised by MEPs that attract EU attention to these irregularities, pointing to the involvement of Algiers to keep dramatic situation of sequestered people on its own territory and not organizing a census of the camps populations.

 

Moreover, MEPs have recently said that Algiers continues to impose taxes on European humanitarian aid for sequestered people in Tindouf and have questioned the European Commission about this "unacceptable" practice.

 

The European Commissioner for humanitarian aid, Christos Stylianides, indicated in this context that "until the beginning of 2016, purchases for distribution in the form of donations to the Saharawi refugees, on Algerian territory, were still subject to local VAT which varies by product. "

  

He added that between 2010 and 2014, the European Commission assessed the amount of VAT paid in Algeria on local purchases of goods to the populations of the Tindouf camps to a million euros, an average of 200,000 euros per year, equivalent to 2% of the annual amount of aid provided by the European Union.

 - News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas-