The colonial history of Algeria has a thousand and one facets and every day, month, year, new details surface. After the repatriation of the skulls of Mujahideena makeshift cemetery for harki children has just been discovered in the south of France. An event that fills a new page in the book of the Algerian war.
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Graves of Algerian harki children discoveries in France, a piece of history restored
A rudimentary burial where children, even babies, were buried by the French authorities was discovered in the south of France. These children belonged to families of harkis who fled Algeria just after independence. After the war, the harkis were concentrated in transit camps where living conditions were deplorable. Many are died of starvation, cold or infectious diseasesincluding a large majority of stillborn children and babies. Neighboring municipalities refused to bury the latter in their cemeteries, resulting in this less than decent burial.
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In Saint-Maurice-l’Ardoise, in the Gard, excavations have revealed graves of children of harkis, children who died of cold or contagious diseases in camps in France after the Algerian war and buried unworthily #AFP #AFPTV pic.twitter.com/cd3qJrRNSF
– Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) March 29, 2023
Lined up for tens of meters are the bones of children, buried on the groundwithout any precautions. A real affront to the families, who deplore the disrespectful treatment of the French authorities towards their loved ones.
An association supporting the families of harkis in France had officially requested that excavations be undertaken after the discovery of a compromising document. Thus, the French authorities got their hands on the false ones where the children were buried “unworthily”. The clandestine cemetery is located in the Gard, on the site of the camp of Saint-Maurice-l’Ardoise.
Undeclared graves of harki children, the French government complicit
The first traces of this tomb were discovered in the local archives by a member of an association of harkis. Proof of the existence of the burial was found in the police report from 1979.
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The document reveals in broad daylight that the French authorities were aware of the existence of this cemetery. The latter would have voluntarily omitted to inform the families, who remained in uncertainty for more than 40 years.
