Algerian newly-born babies without documents and corpses lingering in mortuaries in Libya!

The closure of the offices of the Algerian diplomatic representation in Libya, due to the tragic events now wracking the North African country, “killed” the hopes of the Algerian community members living in this brotherly country, as the latest statistics from the Foreign affairs Ministry show that this Algerian expatiate community consists of 9.000 persons exercising for most professions, in the fields of mechanical industry and hairdressing.

Many of our compatriots living in the Libyan capital or in conflict zones have been grappling with awesome difficulties to secure their different identification papers or their travel documents after the expiry of the validity dates.

For this purpose, a special diplomatic representation for Algerians residing in Libya was opened in Gafsa which is located in the south-west of Tunisia but few of them can go there because the roads are not safe, like Rachid who lives with his family in Zintan as the roaming militiamen  tightly control these areas and it is risky to venture there.

It should be noted that Algeria has imposed draconian restrictions on border crossings and allows only the passage of Algerians from Libya or Libyans returning home as part of beefed–up security measures which have been enforced because of the prevailing insecurity in this neighbouring country in a bid to ward off any attempted infiltration of terrorist groups into Algeria territory.

This diplomatic “vacuum” negatively impacts on the Algerian nationals who don’t feel well protected at all and can’t travel by road as they could be attacked and ransomed by the over-bearing militias which are rife in several regions of the troubled country.

Furthermore, they can’t afford to go to Tunisia by air to settle their affairs, given their lack of resources, because only one air ticket exceeds 150 Euros, plus expenses incurred during the travel to Tunisia’s city of Gafsa, distant by 355 km from the capital, in addition to the hotel and living expenses, etc.

Our citizens have also raised the fate of newborns unregistered since the closure of any Algerian diplomatic representation and the dead, whose remains haven’t be transferred yet and are kept in morgues for numerous days and ultimately they will be buried in Libya itself without being repatriated back to their own country. Also in troubled Libya, Algerian students are very worried about their future in this country, like the example of Fathi.

“Echorouk” has also learnt from sources in Libya itself  that about 3,000 Algerians living in Libya have been awaiting regularization with the issuing of official documents since 2011 and it is difficult to have an accurate census, between deaths, births and those who are in prison for lack of proper registration.

But despite this cumbersome “hassle”, all have recognized the need for the closure of our diplomatic representation because the militias overtly threatened the diplomats of all countries, like the USA, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, etc.

And regarding the advocated opening of a small office in Libya itself to deal with our community’s affairs, as recommended by some ill-informed quarters, this would be suicidal according to authorities who argue that the representation of Gafsa offers all facilitations to Algerian expatriates to fulfill their administrative queries.