SWITZERLAND: U.N. criticizes Algeria for mass deportations of migrants

The United Nations on Tuesday urged Algeria to stop rounding up and expelling sub-Saharan migrants, highlighting an influx of immigrants from Mali and Niger that Algeria says it needs U.N. help to address.  Hassen Kacimi, a senior official at Algeria’s Interior Ministry, told Reuters on Saturday that Algeria had called for help from the international […]

The United Nations on Tuesday urged Algeria to stop rounding up and expelling sub-Saharan migrants, highlighting an influx of immigrants from Mali and Niger that Algeria says it needs U.N. help to address. 

Hassen Kacimi, a senior official at Algeria’s Interior Ministry, told Reuters on Saturday that Algeria had called for help from the international community, while the United Nations had done little to save the migrants. 

U.N. spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva that deportations and expulsions have increased markedly since the second half of 2017, and a U.N. human rights team went to Niger to investigate this month. 

“What they heard was that Algerian authorities frequently carry out mass round-ups of sub-Saharan African migrants in various parts of the country,” Shamdasani said.