Algeria and polisario accused of child rights violations in Italy

A coalition of Moroccan diaspora organizations in Italy has issued a scathing denunciation of what they describe as the political exploitation of children from the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria.

Under the misleading banner of a “peace vacation,” over 60 minors were brought to Italy this summer,allegedly to escape hardship,only to be indoctrinated and used as tools in a separatist propaganda campaign.

According to the coalition’s joint statement,relayed by Al Ahdath Al Maghribia daily,the children were falsely presented as “Sahrawi refugees” and transported using travel documents issued by Algerian authorities.

The operation,the associations said,was orchestrated by the Polisario separatist militias with full backing from the Algerian government,and facilitated by sympathetic Italian politicians in regions such as Tuscany,Lazio,and Emilia-Romagna.

“This is not humanitarian aid. It is rather a cynical political maneuver,” the statement reads. “These children are being paraded across Europe to legitimize a separatist agenda and to solicit financial and political support from European institutions.”

The organizations warn that behind the façade of compassion lies a disturbing reality: the children come from camps where fundamental rights are systematically denied.

Located on Algerian soil,the Tindouf camps are controlled by the Polisario but operate with the tacit approval of the Algerian state.

Residents are deprived of civil documents,freedom of movement,and access to employment. Worse still,children are subjected to ideological indoctrination and,in some cases,forcibly recruited into armed militias.

“The refugees in Tindouf are the only population in the world that has been denied its most basic rights for nearly half a century,” the statement says. “This is a humanitarian crisis perpetuated by Algeria,and the international community must no longer look the other way.”