60 illegal migrants arrested in 2 days in Algeria

A total of 60 illegal migrants were arrested in the southernmost Algeria in separate military operations on Saturday and Sunday, Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry specified that 11 illegal immigrants were arrested on Sunday, eight of whom were intercepted in the province of Illizi and the three others in the province of Adrar, respectively in southeast and southwest borders of the country.

A day before, 49 illegal migrants from different African nationalities were arrested in Tamanrasset and In Guezam, Bordj Badji Mokhtar, on the borders with Niger and Mali.

Due to insecurity in the Sahel, Algeria have been experiencing constant flow of illegal migrants. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said some 20 000 illegal migrants live in the country.

If the trip of some African migrants ends in Algeria where they either get unstable job in the construction field, or simply become beggars, others prefer to attempt to continue their risking trip by crossing "illegally" the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

At the request of Niger government, Algeria had expelled later 2014 thousands of migrants to their country of origin.

In October 2013, a total of 92 people from different African nationalities died in the desert at about ten kilometers from the border of Niger with Algeria, after they had been abandoned by their smugglers.