Algeria on Tuesday repatriated around 40 Moroccan migrants across a long-shuttered land border crossing opened exceptionally for the purpose, a Moroccan NGO said.
“The Algerian authorities handed around 40 migrants to their Moroccan counterparts via the Zouj Beghal land crossing, which was opened specifically,” said Hassan Amari, head of the Association for Helping Migrants in Difficulty.
The Moroccan authorities sent buses to take the migrants home, he said.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in July called for the two nations’ land borders to be reopened.
But Algeria in August cut off diplomatic ties with Algeria in protest at what it said were “hostile actions,” charges the kingdom denied, AFP reported.
Morocco’s long northern coast, some parts of which are visible from mainland Spain, has long been used by migrants from Morocco and beyond as a launchpad for bids to reach Europe by sea.
But “some end up in Algeria after their boats get lost, and they are arrested,” Amari said.
