Research Center for the Prevention of Child Soldiers Opens in Dakhla

Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita inaugurated on March 31 a research center in Dakhla, to help fight the exploitation of children in armed conflicts.

The International Research Center for the Prevention of Child Soldiers in Dakhla aims to protect against the recruitment and exploitation of children in armed conflicts by providing accurate data on the situation.

“The choice of Dakhla, Morocco, to host the International Research Center for the Prevention of Child Soldiers is a recognition of Morocco’s role as a provider of peace, security and stability,” Bourita said, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bourita said the recruitment of children in Algeria’s Tindouf camps by the armed militias of Polisario is “an inhuman crime, a denial of the basic rights of the children involved, and a blatant violation of the Security Council resolutions.”

Polisario’s exploitation of children for military purposes in Tindouf camps is “fueling the instability in North Africa and the Sahel region,” he added.

The Moroccan official highlighted that there are more than 460 million children who live in conflict zones across the world, while more than 15% of child soldiers are girls.

The Center’s president Abdelkader Filali said in a statement to Morocco’s state news agency MAP on March 31 that the international center partners with UN agencies, international and regional organizations, civil societies and authorities, to develop a joint research agenda and fight against the exploitation of children in conflict zones.

Several experts, executives, and academic researchers will work in the international center to monitor various violations occurring in conflict zones worldwide, deploy strategies and solutions to tackle the recruitment of children in armed conflicts.

Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara, the Comorian Foreign Minister Dhoihir Dhoulkamal, the Somali Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamud Abdi Hassan, and the Secretary of State for International Cooperation of Guinea-Bissau, Ude Fati also took part in the opening ceremony.

In January, Polisario sparked controversy with videos of the presence of child soldiers during UN Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s visit to Tindouf camps.

The viral pictures and videos depict children wearing military uniforms during de Mistura’s visit, confirming Polisario’s continued militarization of children in blatant disregard for UN conventions on the rights of the children.

Several countries and international organizations condemned Polisario’s recruitment and exploitation of children in Algeria’s Tindouf camps.

Some international media also denounced the group’s exploitation of children for military purposes. Politicamente Corretto, an Italian newspaper, described the Polisario’s continued use of child soldiers as a “serious crime against humanity.”