Deadly expulsions of migrants into Sahara ending
PARIS — Algeria’s deadly expulsions of migrants into the Sahara Desert have nearly ground to a halt after widespread condemnation and the abrupt firing of two top security officials.
The expulsions to the desert borders that Algeria shares with Niger and Mali have all but ended since reported less than three weeks ago that more than 13,000 people, including women and children, had been dropped off in the stark, dangerous region since May 2017, according to officials with the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.
Before reporters reached out to Algeria for comment and published the report on June 26, the North African nation was expelling migrants by the hundreds almost every week into the unforgiving desert, sometimes to their deaths.
Algeria has refused repeated requests for comment on the expulsions.
The European Union also declined to comment. The expulsions came as Europe is pressuring North African governments to head off the migrants before they can cross the Mediterranean Sea.
An aid worker with contacts in Algeria said the mass detentions continue, but now migrants, including dozens of pregnant women, are warehoused in overcrowded jails. The worker requested anonymity to avoid retribution from the Algerian government.
Algeria also continues to deport migrants from neighboring Niger, with which it has had an expulsion agreement since 2015. But while migrants from other sub-Saharan countries were dropped in the desert secretly and forced to walk for miles under the blistering sun, the Nigeriens have long been driven to the border by convoys. After the media report in June, Algerian officials invited local media to watch such a round of deportations to prove they were humanely done.
Since the report, Algeria’s security forces have fallen into disarray, with the head of the gendarmerie and the chief of national security both being forced from their jobs. It is unclear why the men were fired, but both were linked to the migrant expulsions in the desert as well as to an unrelated corruption scandal involving the seizure of more than 1,550 pounds of cocaine from a cargo ship in May.
In its few public statements, Algeria has insisted that migrants are treated appropriately, but the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the expulsions in the desert. Human Rights Watch also released an investigation into the forced desert marches.
“Algeria has the power to control its borders, but that doesn’t mean it can round up people based on the color of their skin and dump them in the desert, regardless of their legal status and without a shred of due process,” Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.