The Sahrawi Red Crescent Society is an emergency assistance organisation in the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...

. It is not a part of the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Foundation

The Sahrawi Red Crescent was formed by Sahrawi citizens on November 26, 1975, days after the joint Moroccan-Mauritanian invasion of former

Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...

territory.

Mission

During the first years of the organization, its major task was to reunite families who were scattered due to the

Western Sahara War The Western Sahara War (, , ) was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The confl ...

, consequently displacing them to the subsequent

Sahrawi refugee camps The Sahrawi refugee camps (; ), also known as the Tindouf camps, are a collection of refugee camps set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria, in 1975–76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara dur ...

established in Tindouf, Algeria while facing the aerial bombardments of the

Moroccan Air Force The Royal Moroccan Air Force (; ; ) is the air force of the Moroccan Armed Forces. History The Moroccan air force was formed on 14 May 1956 as the Sherifian Royal Aviation (). Its modern installations and bases were inherited from France (Mek ...

. The organisation is currently operating in the refugee camps and the Free Zone in

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

References

{{Authority control Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies Organizations established in 1975 Society of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic 1975 establishments in Spanish Sahara Medical and health organisations based in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic