Hundreds of Moroccan Migrants Stranded in Algeria Amid COVID-19 Crisis

There are more than 200 Moroccan migrants, regular and irregular, who remain blocked in accommodation centers and detention centers in Oran, Sidi Bel Abbés, Naâma, Annaba and the capital, Algiers, reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, specifying that they are mainly artisans and workers who arrived in Algeria to work and who could not benefit from the repatriation operation, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The accommodation centers being overcrowded, they are detained in prisons, justify the Algerian authorities, to the great dismay of the forum which, through a press release, accuses the Algerian authorities of detaining these Moroccans in conditions that do not guarantee dignity and human rights.

The press release does not absolve the Moroccan authorities, who are pointed out for their lack of assistance, particularly the Moroccan ambassador to Algeria, whose absence is deplored alongside the unfortunate brothers, in order to "protect them and watch over their living conditions, while sparing them arbitrary detention".

The forum also plans to hold sit-ins in front of the Algerian embassy in Morocco and its various consulates in the kingdom, as well as other gatherings in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to put an end to the drama experienced by these Moroccans stranded in Algeria, announces the daily.

It should be noted that the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, who expects the Moroccan ambassador in Algeria to closely monitor the situation and make a real commitment to their release, has called for urgent action in order to put an end to this situation.