The nearly 3,000 Sahrawi children who have been welcomed this year to the ‘Vacaciones en Paz 2025’ Program have begun to arrive in Spain, many of them this week, an initiative aimed at the temporary hosting during the summer months in Spain of children from the Sahrawi refugee camps located in the Algerian province of Tindouf.
At the beginning of this week, the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, received half a hundred boys and girls participating in the program at the Ministry’s headquarters, giving them an institutional welcome, which was followed by another institutional event in the Congress this Wednesday.
Various events have been taking place in different provinces where the children will spend the summer with their host families, during the months of July and August, such as in Jaén, where a hundred children will undergo medical check-ups, have a varied diet, learn Spanish, and immerse themselves in a new culture.
In the case of the Andalusian city, this initiative is supported by the Unicaja Foundation as one of the projects selected in the extraordinary social action call promoted by the institution on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.
The children, aged between 10 and 11 years old, arrived this Wednesday after a long journey that began on Tuesday afternoon when they traveled from Tindouf to Malaga, and then by bus to the city of Jaén and later to Linares (Jaén).
Despite a two-week delay in their arrival due to bureaucratic problems, the host families welcomed them with welcome banners, hugs, and flags of their country. The Sahara Jaén association explains that the children are «the best ambassadors of their country.» «The children come to our homes and towns to remind us that they are a sovereign people and deserve a better life,» explained the president of the Sahara Jaén association, Franma Ruiz.
Numerous international organizations working in the refugee camps of Tindouf have been warning in the past year about the lack of food and high rates of anemia and malnutrition, especially in pregnant women and children under five years old.
«We work all year to bring more children to spend the summer with families in Jaén. This year we have exceeded the number from the previous year, and next year it has to be even higher,» they point out from the association. This month and a half in the province is «a breath of fresh air for their health,» noted Marta Miranda, Desireé Henares, and Irene Araque, responsible for the ‘Vacaciones en Paz’ project in Jaén.
The host families take the children to the health center for vaccine reviews and the necessary check-ups. They also visit the dentist and ophthalmologist, access to healthcare that is very difficult in the refugee camps, where the system is very precarious.
In exceptional cases, if a child is found to be ill and in need of intervention, they will stay with the host family longer to address the issue, as healthcare capabilities in the camps are limited and largely dependent on humanitarian aid.
The City Council of Zaragoza also warmly welcomed the 22 Sahrawi children who will spend their ‘Vacaciones en paz’ in the city this summer. About 120 children arrived at the airport in the capital of Aragon to spend their holidays in different parts of Aragon, including this city, in an initiative coordinated by Arapaz-MPDL Aragon, together with Umdraiga, Friends of the Sahrawi People of Alto Aragón (Alouda), and the Association of Friends of the Sahrawi People in Teruel (Lestfta).
The Zaragoza City Council contributes €30,000 to this program, which aims to improve the quality of life for the children, raise awareness of the Sahrawi people’s history, and sensitize the people of Aragon to their situation. The financial allocation comes from the Cooperation budget within the Area of Citizen Participation and Internal Regime.
The children will stay with their host families until August 25th. Since March, a campaign to find host families has been launched by the organizations through posters, press releases, and talks in neighborhood associations or associations in different towns in the province. Several criteria are considered in the selection process, such as having children of similar ages in the family and parents having enough time to care for them.
In addition to Zaragoza, 40 children have already arrived in Albacete, there are 24 children in Cantabria, 41 in the Balearic Islands, 28 in Cáceres, 24 in Logroño, and 36 children who will spend two months with families in Valladolid and 18 other towns in the province. Of these, 29 are returning from previous years, while seven children are participating for the first time and will be hosted by seven new families.
In Madrid, the Fuenlabrada University Hospital has already conducted medical check-ups on 11 Sahrawi children to assess their health and provide healthcare focused on disease prevention through a child care protocol for children in foster care, as part of the program and thanks to the collaboration of various local entities that facilitate the stays with host families from Fuenlabrada during July and August.
The Fuenlabrada University Hospital has been participating in this project for 16 years through health check-ups that help detect and address health issues that would otherwise not be possible.
MORE THAN 34,000 SAHRAWI CHILDREN IN 10 YEARS
From 2014 to 2024, nearly 34,500 Sahrawi children have benefited from this program, which was established in the mid-90s. The program is carried out annually (interrupted only for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic), allowing thousands of children to enjoy a summer vacation in Spain.
‘Vacaciones en Paz’ is managed by various entities and associations of Friends of the Sahrawi People, the Sahrawi National Delegation, and the Sahrawi delegations in the different Autonomous Communities.
In the development of the program, the Ministries of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration; Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation; Interior; and Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, along with the Autonomous Communities where the children will stay, are involved.
In the last ten years, Andalusia, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Basque Country, and Galicia have been the main destination Autonomous Communities for Sahrawi children participating in the program.
FUENTE