Thousands of Moroccans seek refuge in Algeria border town

Border guards of the far west city of Maghnia (north of Algeria) arrested 1,411 illegal immigrants yesterday. Most of them are Moroccan nationals who fled the “ghost town” of Ouajda.

• The border-guards’ section commander of the region Aouragh Lounes told Echorouk that more than 400 Moroccans are arrested annually in Maghnia.
•  “They flee misery and poverty prevailing in the town of Oudjda. It once was the “beating heart” of eastern Morocco,” he added.
• According to the officer, some of those illegal immigrants work in various sectors including painting, building and decoration while others smuggle Moroccan goods into Algeria.
•  The National Gendarmerie forces have seized 6,834 kg of clothes and shoes coming from this country since the beginning of the year.
• Border guards have foiled smuggling attempts of sizeable quantities of foodstuff and other products since the beginning of the year including 6,500 kg of semolina, 1,600kg of flour,500 kg of dates, 242 livestock, 876 kg of copper and 5,224 quintals of clothes. Gasoil and petrol take the lead in this illegal business with more than 800 thousand seized litres.
•  Some Moroccans in Maghnia say that working opportunities in Oudjda were reduced to nil because most of the small and medium size companies went bankrupt.
•  Mohammed, 40, said he fled his native town along with his family because of drug shortages there. His three kids suffer from chronic diseases and are in a dead need of these vital medicines which are either unavailable in Oudjda’s pharmacies or unaffordable.
• For his part, Karim, 25, said he works in a construction site in Algeria and pays a visit to his family in Morocco once a month.
• ” All my brothers are jobless. We are surviving thanks to my father’s pension. I’m seriously considering to bring my brother in a week time to work with me”.
• Asked about an eventuality of being arrested and expelled from the Algerian territory, he replies” We’d rather die than live in Oudjda. If my family was not living there, I would never comeback to that region”.