After refugees in the Lagwira district of Aousserd camp in Tindouf found a child’s dead body dumped in a bin in one of the camp’s rubbish collection areas last week, Algerian journalist and human rights activist Walid Kabir termed the discovery of a murdered child in a rubbish bin in Tindouf a “tragedy” and called for “justice.” But, he says, Algeria is ignoring its obligations under international law and humanitarian law to ensure the safety of refugees in the Tindouf camps.
Algeria’s justice is nowhere to be found, according to Kabir, who is based in Morocco. A murdered child is not Algeria’s concern, and the country has no obligations with respect to international law or human rights.
Kabir asserted that the situation in Tindouf is now out of control. Residents are demanding the departure of Ibrahim Ghali, the Polisario leader, and his followers.
Algerian media coverage is “completely absent” from what is happening there, he asserted, where “the law of the jungle reigns.”
Media that opposes the Polisario Front has reported that due to the lack of security in Tindouf, “the threat of clashes and revenge between tribal groups” has escalated.
Spanish media reportedly attempted to contact the Polisario Front for comment, but they received no response.
The child went missing the night before the decomposing body was discovered. No medical or security personnel were present to examine the circumstances of the child’s death.
However, armed gangs that often use young children as drug mullets or spies in nefarious operations are suspected to have killed the child.
Children frequently drop out of school in this region and are then groomed into becoming child soldiers and “tools” for these gangs. Many become drug addicts.
The Forum for the Support of Autonomists in Tindouf, known as “Forsatin,” has recorded numerous instances of the Polisario militia’s rampant repression and abuse of families living in the Tindouf camps, including abduction, slavery, and assassination.