Over 60.000 Algerian Illegal Immigrants Demand Biometric Passports To Work In Europe

Head of the General Federation of Algerians, Said Ben Rokia, called on the Algerian government to show responsibility towards the Algerians, who said they were “riding death boats and choosing to venture their lives for the dream of reaching the other side of the Mediterranean” .

He called upon the Interior and Local Communities Ministry in Algeria to discuss solutions to counter this phenomenon. In return, he counted more than 60,000 Algerian illegal immigrants who were living abroad, and who are suffering from difficult living conditions and seeking to obtain biometric passports.

In a statement to Echorouk, Ben Rokia revealed on the creation of a national committee for the victims of illegal migration of the General Union of Algerians who are living abroad in order to address the phenomenon of illegal migration both inside Algeria and abroad. 

He asserted that the phenomenon of illegal immigration does not include one sector, but affects all political, social, economic and security levels, and representatives of civil society, associations, neighborhood committees and parents, and it is not enough to deal only with security, without dissecting the phenomenon and coming up with radical solutions.

“More than 60,000 illegal immigrants live without documents, and suffer from compelling conditions in the European territories, including 30,000 in France, 15,000 in Spain and 10,000 in Greece, and the rest are distributed among the rest of European countries. These people need a biometric passport and the Interior Ministry should intervene so that they can settle their situation there and obtain a job and legal documents”.

“A correspondence will be sent to the Interior Ministry this week, after receiving letters and requests from 60.000 Algerians through a number of European countries. The State is obliged to provide legal and administrative procedures to resolve the crisis, and show responsibility in order to save Algerians from homelessness and loss in these countries. Today we must open dialogues between all parties to find a solution to the problem”.

“The Algerian state should invest in the members of the community abroad, in the interest of the homeland at all levels, primarily the competencies and frames who are residing in Europe and America”.

For reference, the General Federation of Algerians was created after the General Assembly that was held on March 2015, while the federation received accreditation from the Spanish authorities in October 2016.