Algeria Expelled Nearly 5,000 African Migrants to Niger Since Early April
Doha – Algeria has expelled 4,975 African migrants to neighboring Niger since early April, exacerbating already strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, according to Niger's state television.
'Algeria, as is its habit, in defiance of African and international laws and conventions, has undertaken to expel thousands of African nationals, including Nigeriens, from its territory,' Télé Sahel, Niger's state television station, declared earlier this week.
Between April 1-21, Algerian authorities forced out 2,753 Nigerien citizens, including 308 minors and 196 women, according to security officials in Assamaka, a Nigerien town on the Algerian border.
These migrants arrived by what are termed 'official convoys' – transported in vehicles and received by local authorities under bilateral agreements.
During the same period, an additional 2,222 'pedestrian deportees' reached Assamaka, including 146 Nigeriens and 2,076 foreigners from other African countries.
These individuals were abandoned at 'point zero,' a desert area marking the border, forcing them to walk approximately 15 kilometers in extreme weather conditions to reach Assamaka.
'If we're not careful, the severity of this humanitarian crisis could transform into a catastrophe,' warned Télé Sahel.
The channel broadcast footage showing exhausted migrants arriving in Assamaka with injuries to their feet from walking and wounds on their arms and faces allegedly inflicted by Algerian security forces.
Read also: New York Times Unmasks 'Hell' of Algeria's Mass Deportation Campaign
The expulsions come amid deteriorating relations between Algeria and the Sahel states. Recently, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso – members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – recalled their ambassadors from Algeria after accusing Algerian forces of shooting down a Malian drone.
Algeria has rejected these accusations, claiming it shot down an armed surveillance drone that had violated its airspace.
'The case of deportees we receive from Algeria is a situation that disturbs the security balance of Niger,' stated General Mohamed Toumba, Niger's Interior Minister, in late January.
He requested that the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) help return migrants to their countries of origin.
Diplomatic tensions between the two countries intensified last year when Niger's military authorities summoned the Algerian ambassador to protest against the 'violent nature' of these deportation operations.
Algeria responded by summoning Niger's ambassador and dismissing the allegations as 'unfounded.'
Since 2014, irregular migrants from Niger and other African countries, including women and minors, have been regularly expelled from Algeria, which serves as a transit point to Europe.
More than 31,000 migrants were deported from Algeria to Niger in 2024, a record number according to the Nigerien NGO Alarme Phone Sahara.
Some reports suggest Algeria's increased deportations may be linked to negotiations for diplomatic relations with Israel by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, as well as a possible retaliation for Niger's solidarity with Mali in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between Algeria and the AES countries.
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