UN expresses concern over 'missing' Arab refugees expelled from Algeria

The UN refugee agency has voiced 'concern' for the safety of over 100 refugees from Syria, Palestine, and Yemen who went missing after seeking shelter in Algeria.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

04 January, 2019

Over 100 refugees from Syria, Palestine, and Yemen are missing. [Getty]

The UN refugee agency on Thursday voiced "concern" for the safety of over 100 refugees from Syria, Palestine, and Yemen who went missing after seeking shelter in Algeria.

"Some 120 Syrian, Palestinian and Yemeni individuals were detained at the Tamanrasset Centre in southern Algeria before being taken to an area near the Guezzam border post (at the southern border with Niger) on 26 December," the UNHCR said in a statement.

Some members of the group were "known to UNHCR as registered refugees who have fled conflict and persecution or claim to have attempted to seek international protection in Algeria", it added.

The UN agency said 20 members of the group "remain stranded in the desert", several kilometres from the Guezzam border post.

"The other 100 individuals who were taken to the border are unaccounted for," it added.

Earlier this week, Algeria said it had barred refugees from entering the country via its southern borders with Mali and Niger due to security fears.

Hacen Kacimi, an Algeria interior ministry official, told AFP on Thursday that a group of about 100 people, mostly Syrians from Aleppo, had been "expelled" on suspicion of links to militant groups.

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His comments came after the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights on Monday denounced the deportation to Niger of 50 mostly Syrian migrants, including women and children, who were smuggled into the country in September.

Rights groups regularly criticise Algeria for its treatment of sub-Saharan migrants, many of whom are hoping to reach Europe.

An October report from the UN urged Algeria to stop collective expulsions of African migrants across its border with Niger, after rights groups accused Algiers or rounding up thousands of people and expelling them into the desert.

Algeria, which does not have asylum legislation, has faced an influx of sub-Saharan migrants in recent years, with rights groups estimating some 100,000 have entered the country in recent years.

More than half of all Syrians have been displaced by war, including nearly six million who have fled the country.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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