NIAMEY: Algeria has turned back nearly 20,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to neighboring Niger since January, in often “brutal conditions,” Niamey-based NGO Alarme Phone Sahara told AFP on Monday.
Irregular migrants, including women and children, have since 2014 frequently been pushed back by Algeria, a key transit point for those attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
Alarme Phone Sahara — which rescues migrants in the vast desert spanning Algeria and Niger — recorded 19,798 people turned back between January and August, its communications officer Moctar Dan Yaye said.
Migrants are often expelled “in brutal conditions” and in the “worst cases, with deadly consequences,” the NGO said in a report published in late August.
“Migrants get arrested during raids on where they live or work in cities, or at the Tunisian border, and are pooled in Tamanrasset (southern Algeria) before being driven in trucks toward Niger,” said Yaye.
Nigeriens are then transported overland to Assamaka, the first Nigerien village on the other side of the border, where they are handled by local authorities.
Other nationals, however, are abandoned at “point zero,” a desert area marking the Algerian-Nigerien border.
From there, they are forced to walk 15 kilometers (nine miles) to Assamaka in extreme temperatures, said Yaye.
Once registered by Nigerien police in Assamaka, migrants are hosted in United Nations and Italian temporary housing centers, before being moved to other centers in northern Niger, Yaye added.
“We hear a lot of stories from migrants involving abuse, violence and confiscation of their belongings by Algerian forces,” he said.
Niger’s junta, which took power last year, in April summoned the Algerian ambassador to Niamey to protest against the “violent nature” of repatriation operations and deportations.
Algiers followed suit, calling in Niamey’s envoy and discarding the allegations as “baseless.”
Since Niger in November repealed a 2015 law that criminalized migrant trafficking, “numerous people have been moving freely” on migration routes “without fearing reprisals” as they did before, the NGO reported.
NGO: Algeria has turned back 20,000 migrants to Niger this year
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NGO: Algeria has turned back 20,000 migrants to Niger this year
- Irregular migrants, including women and children, have since 2014 frequently been pushed back by Algeria
Syrian Democratic Forces withdraws from east of Aleppo
RIYADH: Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from positions east of Aleppo, according to SDF head Mazloum Abdi.
He announced Friday that SDF will withdraw from east of Aleppo at 7 AM local time on Saturday and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates, citing calls from friendly countries and mediators.
Hours earlier, a U.S. military designation had visited Deir Hafer and met with SDF officials in an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions.
The U.S. has good relations with both sides and has urged calm. A spokesperson for the U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly before Abdi’s announcement, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa had announced issuance of a decree strengthening Kurdish rights.
A wave of displacement
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria ahead of the anticipated offensive by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters.
Many of the civilians who fled were seen using side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked at a checkpoint in the town of Deir Hafer controlled by the SDF.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and then extended the evacuation period another day, saying the SDF had stopped civilians from leaving.
There had been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides in the area before that.
Men, women and children arrived on the government side of the line in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
* with input from Reuters, AP
