Mine victims want special status, better health care

26/01/2007

Three million of the 11 million land mines laid by the French Army during the war for independence are still buried along Algeria's borders. Victims of these mines are demanding special status from the Algerian government, along with better payments and health care.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 26/01/07

[Getty Images] An explosives expert clearing a mine

The main demands put together by the national associations of claimants at a training session on care for anti-personnel mine victims, which took place on January 18th in Algiers, include special status, increased pension and better care for victims of mines.

According to the National Mujahideen Organisation of former combatants in the 1954-1962 war for independence, almost 8 million mines were eliminated between 1963 and 1988 in Algeria. Mines were laid in fields, along roads, in scrub lands, and more generally, in uninhabited desert places or in mountainous areas.

"These mines continue to claim victims because they have not all been unearthed and destroyed. Even during de-mining, they continue to claim victims among the military personnel assigned to these operations," Mujahideen member Si El Hocine Gendo said.

According to Solidarity and Work Minister Djamel Ould Abbes, three million of the 11 million mines laid by the French Army during the war are still buried along Algeria's borders.

Farouk Blidi, a resident of Tebessa, lost the use of his legs after stumbling across a mine in a grazing area. "While I was watching over my flock of sheep, I stepped on a hard object which exploded instantly. I felt myself being blown to pieces. I passed out. When I came round in hospital, I had to come to terms with the extent of my injuries: huge bandages were wrapped around my legs. Now I’m handicapped for the rest of my life and forced to use crutches to get around."

At the meeting, Youcef Rafai, president of the Solidarity Association for the Handicapped and Mine Victims, appealed to the government to create a special status for mine victims, and to increase payments to them.

At the moment, mine victims are treated like other disabled people, but they want specific care. At the very least, they want to see the law on handicapped people, which dates back to 2002, revised.

Abbes indicated that the meeting marked the start of an awareness-raising and training programme, aimed at "the people living in areas still contaminated by mines and the handicapped associations working in these areas". Assistance for anti-personnel mine victims, he said, would require "the release of significant human, financial and material resources" to implement new structures for their care, retraining and reintegration into society.