Algeria condemned on Thursday remarks by the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights over its mass deportation of illegal migrants.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it has been subject to a campaign “aimed at tarnishing its image and harming ties with its neighbors.”
Non-government organizations are “falsely accusing us of violating our international vows” regarding showing solidarity with and good neighborliness towards migrants from sub-Saharan regions.
The ministry statement did not refer to the UN stance on the issue, but it spoke of a campaign aimed at harming Algeria’s ties with it neighbors, namely Mali and Niger.
“Algeria has never reneged on its commitment to international treaties” on human rights, as stipulated in its Constitution, it continued.
“It has ratified laws that protect its citizens and foreigners on its territory against all forms of discrimination,” it stressed.
“Algeria has long been a land of refuge for those whose safety is at threat in their countries,” it declared.
In what was seen as a justification of the deportation, the ministry acknowledged that it had in recent years, similar to many countries, witnessed an unprecedented illegal migrants phenomenon.
It has followed international laws and commitments in tackling this issue in order to ensure the security of Algerian citizens, it explained.
It stated that some of the measures taken against illegal migrants included “their transfer, in coordination with their home countries, to the southern borders where their rights and dignity have been respected.”
“The best solution to illegal migration lies in tackling the problems that forces hundreds of men, women and children to leave their countries,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
It also called for combating smuggling networks that exploit the migrants, demanding that non-government organizations focus their efforts in tackling this issue.
UNHCR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani had on Tuesday called on the Algerian government to stop its mass deportation of migrants, especially those hailing from sub-Saharan countries.
Twenty-five migrants interviewed by a UN team said most were not told why they were being detained and were not allowed to pick up their belongings, passports or money before being expelled.
Some were taken straight to Niger, others were held in military bases, in inhuman and degrading conditions, before being taken south.
"(Some) are crammed into big trucks to be transferred to the Nigerien border where they are abandoned and left to walk hours in the desert heat to cross the border into Niger," she said.
