Algeria Resorts to Foreign Media to Prove ‘Humane’ Treatment of Deported Migrants

Migrants pay to head north into Algeria at the Assamaka border post in northern Niger on June 3. – PHOTOS: AP
Migrants pay to head north into Algeria at the Assamaka border post in northern Niger on June 3. – PHOTOS: AP
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Algeria Resorts to Foreign Media to Prove ‘Humane’ Treatment of Deported Migrants

Migrants pay to head north into Algeria at the Assamaka border post in northern Niger on June 3. – PHOTOS: AP
Migrants pay to head north into Algeria at the Assamaka border post in northern Niger on June 3. – PHOTOS: AP

Algeria’s government called on foreign media correspondents working in the country to cover the deportation of hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants, which will take place this week, from cities in the north to the border with Niger.

Authorities aim to “show” international media waves of deportation, hoping to deliver an alleged ‘tolerance’ they practice in dealing with illegal immigrants, and is a response to sharp criticism of international human rights organizations on this issue.

A French newspaper correspondent told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Algerian Ministry of Information had asked him for the first time foreign media to directly cover the process of deportation.

The correspondent explained that he will be travelling with the Algerian Red Crescent Society, which oversaw preparations for the deportation of about 400 migrants to the border with Niger, coming from several countries on the African coast, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

He said the ministry had invited him to prepare for the trip to document the process of deporting asylum seekers, but did not mention the exact date. “I was informed that the process will be before Thursday,” he said.

An Interior Ministry source said the call to cover the new deportation did not include local press.

“We wanted the foreign press, which takes what foreign rights organizations publish as an absolute fact, to be a witness against serious allegations,” referring to accusations facing Algeria for the ill treatment of migrants.

The source defended Algeria’s right to maintain its national security, especially in light of the phenomenon linking unregistered immigration to drugs, human trafficking, terrorism and arms trade.

International reports condemned Algeria's abandonment of migrants in the Algerian Sahara.

Algerian officials said the deportation process has cost the national treasury some 12 million dollars while pointing out that more funds will be allocated within days to finance new deportations.

It is worth mentioning that Algerian authorities did not heed calls made by international organizations and the UN Human Rights Council to stop the mass deportation of migrants, especially asylum seekers and construction workers, who are in the thousands.

Algeria provides no figures for the expulsions. But the number of people crossing on foot to Niger has been rising steadily since the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started counting in May 2017, when 135 people were dropped at the crossing, to as high as 2,888 in April 2018.

According to the IOM, a total of 11,276 men, women and children survived the march.



Syrian Security Forces Detain Cousin of Toppled Leader Assad

A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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Syrian Security Forces Detain Cousin of Toppled Leader Assad

A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A giant picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad lies on the ground as a Syrian opposition fighter stands nearby, inside the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA said on Saturday.

Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad's army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon, Reuters said.

Bashar al-Assad was toppled by the opposition factions in December and fled to Moscow. Most of his family members and inner circle either fled Syria or went underground.

Syria’s new security forces have been pursuing members of the former administration - mainly those involved in the feared security branches accused of rights abuses.

Rights groups have called for a fully-fledged transitional justice process to hold them to account.