Families Seek Answers as Morocco-Algeria Border Opens for Prisoner Repatriation

"The family has no information about him since his departure from home; however, the large number of Moroccan candidates for emigration who end up in Algerian prisons has led us to assume that he could also be there," said the brother of M.Q., a young man from Oujda, whose family has been trying to trace his whereabouts for more than 7 months. He decided to cross into Algeria with the aim of migrating to Europe via its coasts. On Thursday, the Algerian authorities handed over 20 Moroccan detainees to their Moroccan counterparts through the Zouj Bghal border crossing, which was opened exceptionally. A glimmer of hope for M.Q.’s family? "In recent days, the family has followed the release of several detainees and their handover to the Moroccan authorities, and we had hoped that he would be among them; but we were disappointed," laments his brother. "If he is in prison, we do not know how long he will remain there."

The family of the Moroccan N.B., from the province of Nador, also expresses concerns. For more than two years, they have not heard from N.B., who entered Algeria not to illegally migrate, but to work in a profession in demand in that country. According to his family, he is serving a prison sentence for a case whose details they are unaware of. "We were informed by one of the released last year that our son is in the same prison where he served his sentence; but we found no way to verify this information," she adds, deploring the lack of official communication between Moroccan families and the Algerian authorities.

According to the Association for Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants (AEMSV), hundreds of Moroccans are in Algerian prisons. There are those serving various prison sentences and pre-trial detention or awaiting trial, as well as administrative detainees in temporary detention centers awaiting their repatriation to Morocco. The association has files on 310 detainees and six bodies - including two bodies of young women from the eastern region - that their families are waiting to receive to bury them in the country. It should be noted that the Moroccans recently released from Algerian prisons have served sentences between 6 months and 3 years in prison. Others have served 9 months and are awaiting handover to the Moroccan authorities.