Speech:
Algeria has a rich history of offering protection and aid to refugees, hosting those from African and Arab
nations as well as transit refugees. The government provides essential needs such as food, water,
shelter, healthcare, and education. In addition, to allowing them to work and move freely within its
borders. It has collaborated with the UNHCR to offer further aid to refugees. Algeria has participated in
meetings of the African Union and the League of Arab States, emphasizing the need for increased
international support for refugees and human rights protection.
In conclusion, Algeria's efforts to support and protect refugees serve as a model for other nations to
follow. Let’s work together to ensure that all refugees have access to the resources they need to build a
brighter future.
Exploitation of refugees
By the time Algeria was in front of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers in March 2018
it began to insist that those expelled had voluntarily chosen repatriation (to return) and that pregnant
women, unaccompanied minors and people registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
were exempt. The practice of dumping people wholesale at the borders with Niger and Mali was denied.
In the face of criticism from local and international rights groups, the government attempted to justify
its expulsions, saying they were part of a bilateral deal with Niger dating back to 2014. Both countries
claim that criminal networks have been trafficking Nigeriens to become beggars in Algeria.
In a meeting with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers, Algeria confronted that
those expelled had voluntarily chosen to return to their home countries and that pregnant
women, unaccompanied minors and people registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees were exempt. In addition, both countries, Algeria and Nigeria, claimed that criminal
networks have been trafficking Nigeriens to become beggars in Algeria. Thus, Algeria has the
complete right to exploit these criminals.
Borders with Nigeria
Algerian authorities have abandoned an additional 10,690 migrants, asylum seekers and refugees from
Central and West Africa at the border with Niger since May 2017. Many of them have been left to walk
distances of up to 30km (18 miles). Another 2,000 people have been abandoned in the same period on a
dangerous stretch of desert near the border with Mali, between Bordj Badji Mokhtar and In Khalil.
hacene kacimi, an interior ministry official, said Algeria faced threats to its social cohesion. Algeria, he
said, had the same right as E.U. states to protect its borders and must not become an “African
Lampedusa.”
