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Rabat – Morocco has renewed its concerns regarding the situation of children in Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria, where thousands of Saharawis experience inhumane living conditions.
Moroccan permanent ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale stressed Algeria and Polisario’s role in child abuse in Tindouf during his speech at the International Colloquim that the International Commission for International Humanitarian Law organized on Wednesday in Rabat.
During his speech, Hilale said that both Polisario and Algeria are guilty of “ war crimes,” deploring children’s recruitment in the military.
“The armed separatist group Polisario and Algeria are jointly responsible” for child exploitation in the military in Tindouf, Hilale said.
The ambassador recalled that Algeria and the Polisario Front are defying all resolutions and international law, framing the protection of children in times of conflict.
“Those [children] in Tindouf, in Algeria, continue to be exploited with impunity as children soldiers by the Polisario,” Hilale added.
Hilale featured photos and videos showing military training to which children in Tindouf are subject to by the Polisario.
The Moroccan ambassador also listed similarities in the armed violence training techniques used by the Polisario and terror groups, such as ISIS.
Hilale recalled that Algeria is refusing a census of the population in Tindouf in violation of the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees and other UN Security Council resolutions.
Both Algeria and the Polisario Front refuse to allow a census in the Tindouf camps despite UN calls.
The UN Security Council Resolution 2602 urged Algeria and Polisario to allow a census amid dire conditions Sahrawis face in the Tindouf camps.
The UNHCR estimates the number of Sahrawis living in the camp at 90,0000.
Amid continued refusal from Algeria and Polisario to allow a census, former leading members from the Polisario Front argue that the reason why the Algerian regime and the separatist group would not allow a census in the region is that only 20% of the camps’ population are of Sahrawi origin.
Former Polisario member Hamada El Bihi has said that 80% of the population in the camps consists of Tuareg people stemming from countries across the Sahara desert, including Niger, Chad, Mali, Algeria, and Libya.
Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud, another former Polisario leading member, echoed El Bihi’s testimony, agreeing that Sahrawis m account 20% of the population in the Tindouf camps.
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