[Perspectives] Statelessness: a boy with neck lumps and lethargy in a Sahrawi refugee camp in Algeria

Abstract

On a hot April day, Brahim, a 15-year-old boy, and his mother saw a physician at a hospital in southwestern Algeria's Sahara Desert. Brahim's mother had found two small lumps on her son's neck. Once the most active of her five children, Brahim had lost his energy and appetite. The doctor examined the lumps, which were painless and mobile. Suspecting an infection, he prescribed an anti-inflammatory medication and asked them to return if Brahim did not improve. Brahim had previously been healthy, apart from chronic anaemia, which affects most children from his community.