"Basinet croons for the state of the Sahrawis"

18 June 2001 PRESS RELEASE

The model/actress turned crooner, Cynthia Basinet, best known for her hit phenomenon “Santa Baby," recently returned from visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian Sahara desert after a first-hand assestment of a pending food crisis in the refugee camps. The invitation to visit the refugee camp was from the US-Western Sahara Foundation and the Sahrawi refugees. When asked about her trip to the Sahrawi refugee camps and meetings with their President, Ambassador, UN, MINURSO and Algerian officials, the singer and international activist issued the following statement which reminds us of the union which we all share with the refugees:

“As a single mother, I understand only too well what lack of security can do in the undermining of what they, the Sahrawis believe in and wish for as a society. Their ability to withstand all for 26 years in the pursuit of self-determination is truly a role-model for us all, as we enter this new millennium. For they have displayed faith, honour, compassion and resourcefulness in the face of such opposition. It is my hope that my visit will shed visibility on their plight and value."

Cynthia is issuing a number of international press releases and interviews concerning her visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps. She is especially concerned about the impending food crisis in the refugee camps and is calling upon her concerned fans, internationally to contact the US Congress and State Department requesting that action be taken by the US government which will insure a steady supply of food to the refugee camps for as previously committed by the World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP).

The two largest suppliers of food to the Sahrawi refugees have completely stopped or greatly reduced the amount of food aid promised to the refugees.

In September of last year, The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), completley stopped food relief shipments to the Sahrawi refugees. Now, the food security issue has reached crisis proportions as WFP has informed the Sahrawis that the WFP will no longer be able to provide the basic food allotment after the end of June of this year breaking the original agreement.

There are nearly 200,000 refugees in the middle of the Sahara desert that have no known source of food after the end of the month.

Carlos Wilson, Executive Director of US-WSF, the organization which has been coordinating shipments of tons of humanitarian aid to the refugees for the past several years, said all future shipments would be food only in response to the pending food crisis.

When asked about the food crisis, Mr. Wilson was quoted:

“Unfortunately in situations such as this, it is always the children who suffer the most. It is time for the humanitarians and the religious communities to truly practice what they preach. If they do nothing the death of every Sahrawi child who knows nothing about politics and breached commitments, will be on their hands. The international community in general and the US community specifically, must pressure their Congressman, Senators and the State Department to call upon the World Food Program at the UN to resume and in fact to increase, the amount of food shipments to the refugees. Otherwise the Sahrawis will starve to death not only from a lack of food but from a lack of action by the international community. The United Nations can have no greater mission than to prevent such insult to mankind."

END. Contact: Carlos Wilson Executive Director US-Western Sahara Foundation 3250 Caminito Eastbluff, Unit 85 La Jolla, CA 92037 email: [email protected] Telephone: 858 458 9191 Photos available at: www.mp3.com/cbasinet www.thewireweb.com (on-line interview) [email protected]/

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