Algeria In the US List of Human Trafficking Violators

A recent report conducted by the US Deartment of State has ranked Algeria, for the first time, in the black list in terms of human trafficking.

The US report said the government failed to meet minimum international standards in the fight against human trafficking.  

“Algeria is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a destination and source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking,” the report reads.

“Most commonly, sub-Saharan African men and women enter Algeria voluntarily but illegally, often with the assistance of smugglers, for the purpose of traveling to Europe. Some of these women are forced into prostitution. Criminal networks which sometimes extend to sub-Saharan Africa and to Europe are involved in both smuggling and human trafficking,” the report added. 

The report accused the “chairmen,” or leaders, of the “African villages” – small non-Algerian ethnic enclaves located in and around the southern city of Tamanrasset – are among those responsible for forcing women into prostitution. 

The US report further said that “the Government of Algeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so,” adding that “the government made no discernible effort to enforce its 2009 anti-trafficking law. It also failed to identify and protect trafficking victims and continued to lack adequate measures to protect victims and prevent trafficking.”