Algeria: 3,000 babies’ fathers refuse to recognise them

Three thousand women in Algeria have given birth to children whose fathers refuse to recognise them, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) revealed on Tuesday.

CNDH Chairman Fafa Sidi Lakhdar Benzerrouki said one of the issues which women in Algeria face is the absence of legal procedures which force men to take the necessary medical tests to prove their paternity to their legitimate or illegitimate children. This, she added, is something her organization is working to try to alter.

She added that the children often suffer emotional deprivation and lack of parental support as a result.

The organisation, she explained, is also looking in to custody issues relating to the children of women who remarry, adding that this should be assessed based on the ability to provide a decent living standard in which the child can enjoy his/her rights.

Read: Algeria endangering lives of women