Algerians Classified in Second Slot Of Nationalities Of “Harragas” Deported From Spain

Spanish Authorities have deported more than 4,000 Algerian “Harragas” or illegal migrants from their territory since 2013, as the Algerians are classified in the second slot in terms of the nationalities flocking to this southern European country, while the number of deportees in 2017 reached about 1,119 people.

In the context of a document of the Spanish Interior Ministry issued in the form of a response to Senator Mirabal Mora Grandi belonging to the “Podemos” Movement, the Algerian “Harragas” or illegal migrants have been the second nationality to be forcibly deported to their own country over the past five years, with the overall number being set at 4,479 expelled ”Harragas”.

According to the relevant document published by the Spanish newspaper “El Pais”, the high proportion of Algerian undocumented migrants who were forcibly deported to their own country came in line with the Convention on cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration between Spain and Algeria, noting that the proportion of Algerian “Harragas” who arrived in Spain in 2017 was estimated at 18 percent or (more than 4,140 ”Harragas”), out of a total number of 28,272.

Spain in 2013, according to the same document, deported 833 Algerians and 841 in the following year of 2014. The number of deportees dropped slightly to 797 in 2015 and hiked to 889 in 2016.

As a recall, the number of deportations of illegal migrants exceeded the barrier of 1,000 in 2017, including 1,119 Algerians, a high number in view of the significant number of Algerian “Harragas” arriving in the same year (2017), which exceeded 4,140 people.

The list of Harragas deported from Spain during the last five years, notably concerning the number of Moroccan illegal migrants, was set at 30 thousand and 832, as the year 2013 witnessed the highest number with 7,487 deportees and 6,351 in 2014, and this number stabilized around 5 thousand incoming “Harragas” between 2015 and 2017.

According to recent statistics of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Spain, about four thousand Algerian illegal migrants arrived in the Spanish Kingdom through the sea or the land crossings (Ceuta and Melilla), starting from January to October 31, 2018,

On the Italian side, the number of Algerian illegal migrants arriving in the island of Sardinia in 2018 reached more than 1,200 people, according to recent statistics compiled by the island authorities and published by Italian media outlets.

All in all, the number of Algerian “Harragas” who reached the coasts of Spain and Italy in 2018 exceeded 5,000, an unprecedented figure for almost 10 years, according to the same document.