Algeria leaves over 1800 migrants stranded in the Sahara
On April 19th, the Algerian authorities carried out a record expulsion, deporting over 1,800 migrants to a remote stretch of the Sahara along the Nigerien border, according to AP. The group was stranded at what humanitarian organizations have termed Point Zero, where Algeria has pushed back tens of thousands of sub-Saharan migrants in recent years.
Fifteen kilometers from the overwhelmed settlement in Assamaka, migrants were left to travel on foot, enduring extreme conditions without support. Local organizations have revealed that some migrants, including pregnant women and mothers with infants, “collapse from thirst and exhaustion, and some die before rescue teams arrive.”
According to Abdou Aziz Chehou, the national coordinator of a Niger-based migrant rights group, the latest convoy brings the total number of expelled migrants arriving in Assamaka in April alone to over 4,000.
Algeria has long been a waypoint en route to Europe for migrants fleeing poverty, conflict, or climate change. But as Europe tightens its border controls, many migrants are left stranded in transit countries like Algeria with “checkered human rights records,” says AP.
In 2024, Alarmphone Sahara recorded more than 30,000 migrants expelled from Algeria, with Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya imposing similar pushbacks.
It is no coincidence that this surge comes amid rising tensions with Algeria’s southern neighbors, all ruled by military regimes that ousted elected regimes once aligned with Algiers. Earlier in April, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrew their ambassadors from Algeria over border security disputes.
Neither Algiers nor Niamey have commented on the latest expulsions, which are rarely reported in the Algerian press. However, Nigerien authorities have previously lamented that Algiers’ actions violate a 2014 agreement that allows only Nigerien nationals to be deported across the border.
AP, Maghrebi
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