Casablanca – Malian migrants expelled from Algeria by the Algerian Security Forces are accusing the latter of violence leading to injuries and deaths upon their arrival to Bamako.
The Malian migrants who arrived in Mali’s Capital, Bamako, have denounced the violence of the Algerian authorities and revealed cases of injuries and deaths among them during their deportation process.
In an attempt to verify these allegations, AFP has requested details from the Algerian Authorities, but official sources have not yet confirmed the deaths nor supplied any details regarding the massive deportation which began in early December.
Ousmane Coulibaly, one of the migrants who arrived at the headquarters of the Civil Defense in Mali has told AFP that Algerian forces are “racist,” claiming that, “We were beaten and at least three Malians were killed.”
Coulibaly gives a horrifying account of the atrocities he and his fellow Malians allegedly suffered at the hands of Algerian authorities. African migrants were “parked” in a “large yard” and some Malians had their head smashed against a wall or an iron bar even as they were trying to escape the blows of the officer’s truncheons.
“Others were wounded and one of them died during the transfer from Algiers to Tamanrasset at the Nigerian border,” adds Coulibaly.
Another deportee, named Moussa Kanté, states that he and his peers suffered a “lack of water and food” on their journey to Niger and claims that 40 people “were given one baguette of bread” which they were all meant to share.
A third deportee, Oumar aged 22, has told the same source that the transport of the deportees from Algiers to the Nigerian border was carried out by bus. As they got closer to the Nigerian capital of Niamey, the deportees were transferred to “trucks that usually carry sand.”
Allegations of inhumane abuse continue, expanding to other legal migrants. Youssouf Doumbia was arrested on December 1 along with others. When they asked about the reason for their detention, they were told that they were being taken to get “vaccinated.”
Other Malians who were expelled are also reporting that they were robbed of their belongings as they were deported.
These violent repatriations of African migrants, who arrived to Algeria by the millions following the chaos in Lybia, are becoming commonplace. Migrants are generally arrested in the large Mediterranean cities in the north and then transported by bus to a Visitor Center in Tamanrasset before being deported to their respective countries. The Algerian Red Crescent supervises these operations.
