Algeria: The Government Authorizes Employment Of African Migrants

Interior and Local Assemblies Minister Noureddine Bedoui announced Monday that the government does not mind using African refugees in occupations experiencing a shortage of labor.

Mr. Bedoui said in remarks on the sidelines of a working visit to the western province of Tipaza, that the Government is envisaging “the possibility of employing African migrants who do work in workshops for long construction endeavors, as Algeria needs manpower in some areas”.

He added that the authorities “have begun the working out of a national card to count them and determine their precise situation”.

“There are several construction workshops and even peasant farmers from African countries because of the shortage of Algerian labor, but irregularities have often been recorded against these migrants, such as non-insurance and even deprivation of their money and threats of illegal residence”, he noted.

According to the interior Minister, African migrants who quit their crisis-hit countries are welcome in Algeria and are entitled to health insurance in response to reporters’ questions about the spread of a large number of them in several cities of the country.