from AHMED ZAYED in Tripoli, Libya
Libya Bureau
TRIPOLI, (CAJ News) – ALGERIA’S expulsion of more than 7 000 people portrays growing hostility by the North African country against immigrants.
Algeria has expelled them to the Assamaka desert in Niger in April and May this year.
“This is an unprecedented wave of refoulement,” said Dr Toupou Lancinet, general coordinator of Doctors of the World in Niger.
Lancinet said while these expulsions are frequent, “this is the first time that so many migrants had been expelled from Algeria at once,” he added.
According to the governorate of Agadez, more than 700 children have registered among the thousands of people expelled from Algeria in April and May.
Following the saturation of the transit centre for children, the latter were either taken in by volunteer host families or left to fend for themselves on the streets of Agadez, Lancinet said.
Agadez is for rejected migrants.
Its purpose is to welcome migrants, primarily from Algeria and Libya.
In 2024, Doctors of the World enabled 11 839 migrants to benefit from appropriate health services, including mental health services and 4 641 others to benefit from material assistance and food kits in Agadez.
Crises have engulfed Libya, the North African country, since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered in 20211 by rebels sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
– CAJ News