Algeria Repatriates 31 Moroccan Migrants Through Temporarily Opened Border

The Algerian authorities handed over on Tuesday to their Moroccan counterparts 31 young Moroccans, including a young woman, through the border post of Zouj Bghal, in Oujda and that of Colonel Lotfi in Maghnia, which were opened exceptionally, reports the association Aid to Migrants in Vulnerable Situations (AEMSV) in a press release. These repatriated Moroccan migrants are from the cities of Fez, Oujda, Taza, Taounate, Al Aroui, Tiouli, Bouarfa, Casablanca, Laâyoune, El Kalaâ, Béni Mellal, Nador, Khénifra, Sefrou and Souk Sebt Oulad Nemma and had served their sentences in various Algerian prisons. Some had served a prison sentence, in addition to more than five months of administrative detention, the association specifies.

Hundreds of young people are still in administrative detention awaiting repatriation, as well as a number of detainees in custody, the association said, noting that this operation is facing "several technical and procedural difficulties that it is trying to resolve".