Rabat – Algeria expelled 40 Moroccans across the land border with Morocco on Tuesday evening.
Hassane Ammari, the head of the assistance to migrants in vulnerable situations (AEMSV) announced the news, saying that the repatriation of the migrants was an “exceptional measure.”
Algeria decided to close its borders with Morocco Earlier this month, with the decision coming a few weeks after the country’s government severed diplomatic relations with Morocco.
On Tuesday, the Algerian authorities took the “exceptional” decision of opening the land border with Morocco in order to expel 40 Moroccan nationals reported to have been arrested in Algeria as part of the county’s crackdown on Europe-bound irregular migration.
Ammari told AFP that Algeria’s authorities returned to Morocco over 40 migrants through the Zouj Bghal border port.
Buses mobilized by Moroccan security services took the expelled migrants to their respective towns and cities of residence.
Ammari said that his association had addressed to Algerian authorities a letter calling for the release of seven Moroccan migrants at the request of their families.
“The good surprise is that the number of expelled [people] was about 40,” he added.
The borders between Morocco and Algeria have been closed since 1994, with Algeria deciding to close the land border between the two neighbors after Rabat imposed visa regulations on Algerian visitors in the wake of a terrorist attack on the Atlas Asni hostel in Marrakech.
Morocco lifted the visa requirement in 2004, but the border has since remained closed.
In recent years, Morocco has repeatedly called for dialogue with Algeria to both open the border and put an end to decades of enmity and mutual distrust on a host of strategic regional topics.
On July 31, for instance, King Mohammed devoted a sizable portion of his Throne Day speech to extending yet another olive branch to Algeria, which he described as Morocco’s “twin brother.” Following suit, many Moroccan senior officials have expressed their desire to promote an environment of “frank dialogue and reconciliation” between the two neighbors.
But Algeria has repeatedly ignored Morocco’s calls for dialogue.
Even more, while Morocco continued to reaffirm its “commitment to friendship and fraternity with the Algerian people” despite lingering political issues, the Algerian regime has accused Rabat of masterminding a plot to undermine Algerian interests and destabilize the country.
