Algeria| ‘Discriminatory campaign’ against black migrants from Sub-Saharan countries

More than 7,000 migrants were “expelled” from Algeria to Niger in only one month amid “unacceptable and extreme forms of violence, including torture and ill-treatment” against them, said the Switzerland-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) in a statement on the dialogue with the special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

The statement coincided with the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which is observed annually on June 26.

“From March to April 2023, there were more than 7,000 expulsions of migrants from Algeria to Niger,” OMCT said, voicing its concerns about the situation of migrants in Africa.

The organization has accused Algeria of practicing a “discriminatory campaign” against black migrants from Sub-Saharan countries, calling upon the Algerian authorities to put an end to the “massive expulsions and torture of migrants” and to respect the international laws and norms of human rights.

“These migrants are subject to torture and ill-treatment. They are arbitrarily arrested and detained with no procedural guarantees. Migrants are transported to the border, where they are abandoned without food or water in extreme weather conditions. During detention and transportation, security forces seize documents and belongings, and physically and sexually abuse migrants,” OMCT added.

Algeria is a transit country for African migrants who are eying Europe through Spain, and thousands of illegal migrants try to take this route to reach Europe every year.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on June 21 that approximately 8,000 vulnerable migrants arrived in the border village of Assamaka, northern Niger, from Algeria. It added that as of the end of April nearly 3,600 migrants were still stranded in the village.

In May 2022, Algeria announced that it arrested 400 secret human trafficking cells that were operating in 2020 and 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Algerian government presented by Permanent Representative to the United Nations Nazir El Arbaoui, Al Arabiya Net reported.

Sub-Saharan migrants took two routes to reach Europe since 2006, including one route to Italy and the other route from Algeria to Spain, according to the Spanish Caminando Fronteras organization, which reported that 426 migrants disappeared on the routes in 2022, in addition to 38 deaths.