Algerian television news reported that the bodies of six migrants were retrieved off the country’s coast after their boat sunk on Monday. Six survivors meanwhile were rescued. Search operations reportedly still continue for an unspecified number of missing people.
Italy's prime minister Mario Draghi visited Algeria on Monday. The summit was one in a long line of deepening relations between the two countries, which began most recently last November. Energy, migration and stability in the Mediterranean were on the agenda.
The Tunisian coast guard reported on July 18 that it had rescued a total of 455 migrants the previous night. The Mediterranean nation has been sprucing up its efforts to fight irregular migration.
While the Spanish Canary Islands have seen tens of thousands of migrants arrive in recent years, the Balearic Islands have recently also seen an increase in migrant arrivals.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has strongly criticized the treatment of refugees and migrants in the border region of Niger, Algeria and Libya. With thousands of migrants being forcefully deported to Niger's Sahel region each year, the aid organization blamed the EU for its policy of strengthening border controls in African nations in a bid to keep migrants and refugees away.
Algeria said Wednesday it was suspending a decades-old co-operation treaty with Spain, after Madrid backed the position of the North African country's arch-rival Morocco on the disputed Western Sahara.
Eleven people have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Algeria. Five others – including two children – were rescued, having spent 14 hours at sea.
In the eastern Pyrenees, on the border between France and Spain, the number of migrants arriving is increasing. French authorities said they intercepted a record number of 13,000 people in 2021 in Cerbère, the first French village after the border. In the nearest big city Perpignan, associations helping migrants say they are overwhelmed.
Hizia, a 39-year-old Algerian woman, set sail for Spain on the evening of December 31. She was traveling with her two children, 9-year-old Mohammed and 14-year-old Omar. They left Oran on the Algerian coast with 13 other people, but the boat capsized off the coast of Andalusia. Omar was rescued by a merchant ship, but Hizia and her youngest son are still missing.
Europol announced that 24 suspects have been arrested for smuggling migrants, drugs and stolen goods into and through Europe.
During a visit to Algeria, Italian president Sergio Mattarella said on the issue of migration that "Europe and Africa are called upon to do more, as part of collaboration that is open, effective and sincere, where the positions may at times be distant but always respectful and constructive."
Three migrants were killed and one injured after a train in southern France struck them. The migrants were reportedly lying or sleeping on or near the tracks at the time of the incident.