Algeria expels 16,000 illegal migrants back to Nigeria
Algeria has pushed back an upwards of 16,000 irregular African migrants to Niger since April 2025, according to reports on 5 June by The New Arab.
Over the past decade, wandering sub-Saharan migrants have been streaming into Algeria from neighbouring states, with the North African state acting as the primary transit point toward the European continent.
An official report by the prefectorial authorities of the northern Nigerian city of Arlit has stated that on just 1 and 2 June 2025 alone, 1,466 migrants had arrived into the border town of Assamaka.
Le Monde has reported extensively on the cruel rejection and brutal conditions faced by straggling migrants, who locals have now collectively named sadaka.
Sadaka, or sadaqah is an Arabic term translating loosely to voluntary charity or alms.
Nigerian NGO Alarm Phone Sahara has denounced Algeria’s expulsion of these migrants and alleged that the human rights of migrants were being violated. The group has demanded for Algerian government to initiate the “immediate halt of round-ups and mass expulsions”.
Lauren Seibert, a refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, has levied heavy criticism against the Algerian government since as early as October 2020. “Algeria is entitled to protect its borders, but not to arbitrarily detain and collectively expel migrants, including children and asylum seekers, without a trace of due process. Before moving to deport anyone, authorities should verify their immigration or asylum status individually and ensure individual court reviews,” she stated.
As a party to the UN, the African Refugee Conventions as well s the Convention Against Torture, the nation of Algeria is bound by the principle of non-refoulement.
This principle prohibits the forced return of any human to countries where they could face physical torture or threats to their lives or freedom.
Due to massive inflows of push back from Algeria to Nigeria, Nigerian authorities have taken proactive measures to avoid what it fears will be “a humanitarian disaster”, announcing plans in mid-May to repatriate some 4000 migrants back to their home countries by July.
These Nigerian repatriation efforts align with ongoing operations by the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The New Arab/ Maghrebi
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