Spanish NGOs Urge International Action on Polisario’s Child Recruitment

Rabat – Spanish human rights organizations “La libertad es su derecho” (Freedom is their right) and “Pedro Ignacio Altamirano” have raised alarm over severe violations by the Polisario in the Tindouf camps, highlighting the separatist group’s recruitment of children for military purposes and their exploitation for political gains.

In a meeting held in Seville last Saturday, the Spanish NGOs stressed the urgent need for international attention and investigation into the enrollment of innocent children by the Polisario militia in the Tindouf camps, emphasizing the blatant disregard for fundamental human rights.

Referring to Articles 38 and 39 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the NGOs emphasized the moral and ethical imperative to address the inhumane exploitation of children in wars worldwide, with a specific focus on the Polisario’s activities in the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

Pedro Ignacio Altamirano called for an “urgent and thorough investigation” into the separatist group’s “flagrant violations of a fundamental human right” affecting vulnerable children in need of protection.

In particular, the organization urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider the cases of individuals detained and held by the Polisario armed militia in the Tindouf camps.

Meanwhile, “La liberté est un droit” warned : “As a civil society, we cannot allow attitudes that hinder the full development of children, as outlined in the Declaration of Human Rights, especially in the face of intolerable violence against innocent children victimized by Polisario’s violations.”

Amid growing concerns about the situation in the Tindouf camps, where some 90,000 Sahrawi refugees face food insecurity, the Polisario Front has consistently prevented international organizations, including the UN, from conducting a census in the region. This has hampered the delivery of essential aid to distressed Sahrawis over the years, observers and UN officials have long lamented.

The UNHCR estimates a 75% reduction in food rations in the Polisario-run camps in Algeria, with funds needed for refugee food assistance doubling to $39 million in 2022.

In recent years, the UN has repeatedly urged Algeria and the Polisario militia to allow a census that would help in addressing the dire crisis in the Tindouf camps, notably acute malnutrition and accompanying diseases.

As reports reveal alarming conditions in the camps, Morocco has also persistently called for UN intervention, accusing Algeria and the Polisario of embezzling food aid intended for the distressed Sahrawis.