Forty Moroccan migrants were returned Tuesday, September 28 to Morocco from Algeria across the land border between the two neighboring countries, closed since 1994 and open exceptionally on this occasion, AFP learned from a Moroccan NGO.
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"
The Algerian authorities have handed over to their Moroccan counterparts around 40 migrants through the Zouj Bghal border post, which is exceptionally open
," Hassane Ammari, head of the association Aide aux migrants en situation vulnerable (AEMSV), told AFP. .
The expelled migrants were taken back by bus to their respective cities of origin by the Moroccan authorities, who remained discreet about this affair.
AEMSV had previously written to the Algerian authorities to try to obtain the release of seven Moroccan migrants, at the request of their families, "
but the good surprise is that the number of expelled was about 40 people
", according to the same. source.
Evictions amid tensions
The exceptional opening of the land border between Morocco and Algeria, closed since 1994, comes in a context of crisis between the two neighboring countries, Algiers having severed its diplomatic relations with Rabat on August 24, accusing it
of " hostile actions
”. Morocco, for its part, regretted the “
unjustified
”
decision
to sever bilateral relations, rejecting “
the fallacious, even absurd, pretexts which underlie it
”.
The Mediterranean coast of the Cherifian kingdom is one of the main points of departure for migrants trying to reach Spain, but "
it happens that certain boats, lost, run aground on the Algerian coast
," said Hassane Ammari.
This human rights activist spoke of the case of Moroccan migrants "
arrested on Algerian soil while attempting to cross to Europe from Tunisia or Libya
".
Read also Algeria-Morocco, the story of a tumultuous relationship
Relations between the two neighboring and rival Maghreb countries, traditionally difficult due, in particular, to the thorny issue of Western Sahara, have deteriorated further in recent weeks. Last Thursday, Algeria announced the “
immediate
”
closure
of its airspace to all Moroccan civil and military aircraft as well as to aircraft registered in Morocco. And on Tuesday, the Algerian army chief of staff violently attacked Morocco, accusing the kingdom of
plotting
"
conspiracies
" against Algeria. At the end of July, King Mohamed VI deplored the "
tensions
" with Algeria, inviting Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune "
to make wisdom prevail
" and "
work in unison for the development of relations
”between the two countries.
