Algeria’s contradictions exposed: women’s and children’s rights sacrificed to ideology

Geneva, June 23, 2025 – At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a harsh spotlight was cast on Algeria’s human rights record, particularly in the Tindouf camps, controlled by the Polisario armed group and hosted on Algerian territory.

NGOs and experts denounced early forced marriages, child propaganda, sexual slavery, and arbitrary family separations. The moving story of Ennouha, a young girl barred from seeing her terminally ill mother in France, epitomizes this inhumane system of political control supported by the Algerian regime.

Speakers highlighted Algeria’s silence in the face of these violations and praised Morocco’s continuous efforts, including in its southern provinces, to ensure access to education, healthcare, and social protection.

Separately, Algeria was once again condemned before the Human Rights Council for its mass expulsions of migrants, often abandoning women and children in the Sahara without food or water—an egregious breach of international humanitarian law.

Experts called on the international community to end impunity in the Tindouf camps, protect the most vulnerable, and recognize Morocco’s human development efforts. Behind Algeria’s diplomatic rhetoric lies a stark truth: a regime that exploits human suffering to preserve its influence.