In a tragic event on the night of 16 July, a fire tore through an orphanage in Algeria, burning 11 children to death and injuring 19 others, who now lie in critical care. This raises the question: where is the public rage, in Algeria or in the neighbouring countries? Where are the protests demanding to know why such a horrific accident happened at all. Did the building have sirens, a working fire alarm system, any fire protocol in place? Were children trapped behind steel bars, in scenes closer to a jail than a home meant to shelter them? Why do Arab governments remain so inefficient, even insufficient, at keeping their own citizens’ lives protected?

The Childhood Relief Institution, Mouassasat al-Tufula al-Mus’afa, in Mohammadia housed orphans, abandoned minors, children with special needs. Five with reduced mobility were evacuated. The rest were not so fortunate. Among the eleven dead was a 52-year-old caregiver who stayed behind with the children she was responsible for. Algeria’s national police say the fire began with an electrical spark from an air conditioning unit on the first floor, run without pause through a heatwave that had already ignited nearly a thousand fires across the country that week. President Tebboune offered condolences from Berlin. The prime minister visited the injured in hospital. And then, largely, the story moved on.

The story was covered. Algerian and pan-Arab outlets, from Al Jazeera to local Algerian press, reported the death toll,........

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