Algeria Delays Repatriation of Moroccan Migrant’s Body Found on Its Coast

Zakaria Radouane left his hometown of M’diq on March 9, 2024 to reach the Spanish enclave in order to build a better future. Unfortunately, he will never reach his destination. "Instead of reaching the Spanish coast, it is the bottom of the sea that welcomed him. His body was found washed up on the beaches of Algeria, in Aïn Témouchent, on April 1, 2024, after a wait of about twenty days," confides his brother.

Zakaria’s family has taken steps to recover his body. A real uphill battle. They have contacted the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs several times to help them in this process of repatriating their son’s body. As for the Algerian authorities, they are showing an inexplicable slowness in the administrative processing of the file. The family is desperately waiting to recover Zakaria’s body to bury him with dignity in Morocco.

Algeria is no stranger to this. The country of Abdelmadjid Tebboune has made a habit of delaying the repatriation of the bodies of Moroccans, thus exploiting dramatic situations for political purposes.