Noureddine Badoui: “119 Bodies Of Illegal Immigrants Were Recovered From Sunken Boats At The End Of 2018”

Over 119 bodies of illegal immigrants were recovered in the sea, and 96 were missing at the end of 2018, Interior, Local Communities and Urban Planning Minister, Noureddine Badoui, said.

Badoui explained, on Saturday, during his supervision of the launch of the National Forum on the phenomenon of “illegal immigration” in the capital, Algiers, that there was intensive work by the coast guard and civil protection services to save dozens of illegal immigrants and return them to their families before embarking on the dangerous tidal wave that led to dozens of bodies in different coasts of the country.

He calling on the same services to “further sacrifice to thwart the schemes that are prepared by criminals seeking money at the expense of the lives of seduced youth.”

“Phenomenon of illegal immigration is a real tragedy, and our ministry must coordinate with various governmental and security sectors, civil society organizations and associations to join efforts to reduce the scale of the disaster that has afflicted various Algerian families, especially children and pregnant women, and infants as well, and find a sufficient way to raise awareness of the seriousness of the phenomenon, to explain the situation and analyze the factors of the spread and evolution of the phenomenon”.

“51 pages of people who use pseudonyms, which are specialized in promoting the phenomenon of illegal immigration, were identified on Facebook, which has become a distinct space for smugglers and those who wish to try illegal immigration by giving temptations for financial gain”.

The national forum on the phenomenon of illegal immigration, which will last until Sunday, January 20, will be an opportunity to study the phenomenon of illegal migration in various aspects, to be a space for consultation and dialogue between the different involved parties, in order to analyze the situation in four basic workshops that include topics on “awareness, communication and cyberspace, for joint preventive work”, “youth integration in the economic field”, “youth-related programs for culture and recreation”, and “the role of civil society organizations in youth care”, pending the recommendations of the forum, which will be relied on in the future to reduce the spread of the phenomenon among families, especially after it was limited to young people only.