Work
22.May 2006 - 00:00
Issue of Saharawi children in Western Sahara
The issue of the children of Saharawis living under the auspices of the Polisario in Algeria being sent to Cuba has regularly been raised in recent years at the annual sessions of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It has been estimated that as many as 3000 Saharawi children are currently in Cuba, with a few hundred being sent there each year.
Some Saharawis who spent their childhood in Cuba claim that children are sent there against their families' wishes, as a way of coercing parents to stay in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria, thereby denying their fundamental rights to determine their own future. For example, there is information about a person in the regional capital of Es Esmara, who at the age of eight was taken from Tindouf without his parents' approval, sent to military school in Cuba, and spent the next 16 years there. During his time in Cuba he was not allowed to have any contacts with his parents, was not allowed to practise his Islamic faith, and was cut off from his own people in Sahara and their traditions. Quite naturally, he sees his Cuban experience as a violation of his basic rights as a child and his religious liberty — in direct contravention of UN declarations.
It is also alleged that the Polisario restricts freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association and movement in its Tindouf camps.
What enquiries and representations has the European Commission made to the Algerian and Cuban Governments about the treatment of Saharawi children, and what further measures does the Commission intend to take to protect these children’s interests?
P-1806/06EN
Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner
on behalf of the Commission
(22.5.2006)
The Commission is aware that a high number of young Saharawis are educated in Cuba, as well as in other countries. However, the Commission does not have information about the conditions under which these movements of people take place. Delegations in the regions have been asked to look into this issue and will provide further information to the Commission in due course.
The issue of the children of Saharawis living under the auspices of the Polisario in Algeria being sent to Cuba has regularly been raised in recent years at the annual sessions of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It has been estimated that as many as 3000 Saharawi children are currently in Cuba, with a few hundred being sent there each year.
Some Saharawis who spent their childhood in Cuba claim that children are sent there against their families' wishes, as a way of coercing parents to stay in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria, thereby denying their fundamental rights to determine their own future. For example, there is information about a person in the regional capital of Es Esmara, who at the age of eight was taken from Tindouf without his parents' approval, sent to military school in Cuba, and spent the next 16 years there. During his time in Cuba he was not allowed to have any contacts with his parents, was not allowed to practise his Islamic faith, and was cut off from his own people in Sahara and their traditions. Quite naturally, he sees his Cuban experience as a violation of his basic rights as a child and his religious liberty — in direct contravention of UN declarations.
It is also alleged that the Polisario restricts freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association and movement in its Tindouf camps.
What enquiries and representations has the European Commission made to the Algerian and Cuban Governments about the treatment of Saharawi children, and what further measures does the Commission intend to take to protect these children’s interests?
P-1806/06EN
Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner
on behalf of the Commission
(22.5.2006)
The Commission is aware that a high number of young Saharawis are educated in Cuba, as well as in other countries. However, the Commission does not have information about the conditions under which these movements of people take place. Delegations in the regions have been asked to look into this issue and will provide further information to the Commission in due course.