The bodies of four Algerian migrants were retrieved after a makeshift raft capsized off the northeastern coast of Algeria. Five others were rescued by coast guards, according to the Algerian state news agency.
Amadou* had been working for two years in the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset when policemen arrived to detain him and then send him back to the desert, in the direction of Niger. The thirty-year-old West African recounted his journey across the desert and his difficult return home.
Many African migrants remain undeterred in their endeavor to reach Europe despite the global pandemic situation due to the novel coronavirus and increased security measures. In Niger, it’s business-as-usual for migrants.
Spanish police announced on February 3 they had arrested 26 suspected smugglers. The group is thought to have brought more than 900 migrants from Algeria to Spain during 2019, earning at least €1.5 million.
After living in Germany for more than a year, Amin met a German woman and fell hopelessly in love. Two years after the beginning of their romance, Amin was deported to Algeria. Since then, they have done everything they can to be reunited. Here is Amin's story, in his own words:
In the Tenere desert in south central Sahara, days can go by without a single vehicle passing on the road. In March this year, the gear box on a truck carrying 25 migrants heading for Libya broke down. When help arrived three days later, the migrants were hungry, thirsty, and traumatized. Had it not been for their rescuers, Alarm Phone Sahara, they might well have perished.
Tens of thousands of people have set out from West and Central Africa in recent years in the hope of reaching Europe. Not all have completed the dangerous journey – opting instead to retrace their steps and return to their families. But going home brings new risks – including being seen by the community as ‘a failure’.
More than 200 migrants have reportedly arrived on Italian shores over the weekend. The number of arrivals in Italy is on the rise once more.
The "Ocean Viking" rescue ship has pulled 36 people from an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Maltese authorities had requested the charity chip to save the shipwrecked migrants.
Europol said 29 people have been arrested in France and Spain, accused of being part of a criminal ring involved in trafficking migrants, including minors.
Refugees and migrants in Algeria are facing difficult times. Amid the country's ongoing political transformation, authorities choose to deal with sub-Saharan migrants in the country by deporting them to Niger – into the middle of the desert.
The conflict over Western Sahara has smoldered for more than 40 years. Morocco's offer of autonomy for the region is now on the negotiating table, but that's not enough for many of the Saharawis exiled in Algeria.