Algerian War: the hell of the harkis told by their descendants

Benjamin Peter, edited by Nathanaël Bentura 3:08 p.m., March 18, 2022

It was 60 years ago, on March 18, 1962, France and the provisional government of the Algerian Republic signed the Évian agreements and the end of the Algerian war, synonymous with the beginning of hell for the harkis .

These Algerian fighters had fought under the tricolor flags.

90,000 of them managed to reach France, but at the cost of many sacrifices.

A law adopted last month recognizes an unworthy welcome from the harkis and even provides for reparations ranging from 2,000 to 15,000 euros.

But for their descendants, the wounds are still open.

The inhuman treatment reserved for harkis

For Mohamed and his family, the Algerian war did not end on March 19, 1962. "We suffered the greatest betrayal in history," he denounced.

His father was detained for six years and named him as the traitor's son.

"It's the beginning of the ordeal of the harkis. In our villages, we were beaten. I took the biggest roustes of my life as a child. They took me by the end of my arm and threw me. , humiliation, bullying. It was a daily occurrence."

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Taking advantage of a leave in 1968, the family fled and escaped several ambushes.

Arrived in France, Mohamed finds himself locked up in the camp of Bias, in Lot-et-Garonne.

"We still thought we were going to find some peace, some recognition, but the Bias camp was hell," he confessed.

"There were about 1,200 of us. There were huge barriers seven meters high and two meters wide, lined with barbed wire. You couldn't go in or out without permission."

Today, after having spent 34 years in the army, Mohamed defends, with his association Génération harkis, the memory of these French people put aside, out of school.

The portrait of his dad sits in his living room.

He promised her on her grave that he would fight until the end.

And for him, the government's reparations law is very far from up to par.