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UNHCR says Maltese troops seemed to use excessive force to quell peaceful demo by detained asylum seekers
19 Jan 2005 The U.N. refugee agency says soldiers on Malta appear to have used excessive force in breaking up a peaceful demonstration by detained asylum seekers. The agency is also concerned about Malta's practice of detaining asylum seekers, and the "extremely poor" conditions at the overcrowded detention centre in a military compound. -
Western Sahara family visits off to flying start
28 Jun 2004 Some 18,000 people from the disputed territory of Western Sahara have asked to join a UN initiative briefly allowing them to meet relatives living on opposite sides of the border. -
UNHCR expands family visit initiative for Western Saharan refugees
14 May 2004 The UN refugee agency has started flights between Algeria's camps and Smarra in Western Sahara, the third city to be included in a confidence-building initiative that has so far allowed more than 420 people to visit their long-lost relatives. -
Ringing the changes for Western Sahara's exiles
14 Jan 2004 The UN refugee agency has established a phone link between refugees in a camp in Algeria and their relatives back in Western Sahara. UNHCR is also negotiating to start a mail service and family visits as part of a new package of confidence-building efforts for one of the world's oldest refugee groups. -
Funding cuts leave Saharan refugees high and dry
24 Oct 2002 Lack of sufficient funding means that the UN refugee agency has postponed for yet another year needed improvements in the water distribution network for one of the oldest refugee camps in the world. -
Western Saharan refugees face malnutrition, warn aid agencies
29 Aug 2002 More than 35 percent of the children in camps along Algeria's border with Western Sahara are chronically malnourished, says the UN refugee agency. More are at risk if food aid and funds are not forthcoming, adds the World Food Programme.