International Center for Research on Prevention of Child Soldiers condemns recruitment of children in Tindouf camps

The International Center for Research on the Prevention of Child Soldiers in Dakhla has strongly condemned the violations and the systematic military recruitment of children in the Tindouf camps in Algeria.

In a press release published on Friday, the Center said it remained “deeply concerned by the continued systematic recruitment” of child soldiers in the Tindouf camps in Algeria after witnessing a parade of hundreds of children (boys and girls) in military uniforms.

“We have directly expressed our deep concerns to the international community and hold Algeria legally and morally responsible for this flagrant violation and contempt of international humanitarian law on its soil,” added the same source.

The Center also recalls in its press release that Algeria is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and has the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of children to life, privacy, freedom of thought and peaceful assembly.

“Our Center urges all human rights activists, researchers and journalists to demonstrate professional conscience and intellectual integrity so that no pressure is exerted on parents by the Polisario militia”, he concludes.

Created in 2022 in Dakhla, the International Center for Research on the Prevention of Child Soldiers aims to contribute to the fight against the recruitment of child soldiers, in particular through raising awareness of their fate, the processes of their recruitment, as well as the underlying causes that fuel the persistence of this scourge.