Algeria Boosts Budget to Combat Illegal Immigration
Written by The Media Line Staff
Published Monday, September 08, 2008

Algeria is dramatically increasing its budget to fight illegal immigration.

The Algerian daily A-Shurouq said the country would increase the budget fivefold, and that a large proportion of this money would be invested in transporting illegal immigrants back to their country of origin.

More than 12,000 illegal immigrants entered Algeria in 2007, according to official figures.

Most of the illegal immigrants enter the country through its long southern border.

According to Algerian authorities more than 33,000 illegal immigrants of 53 nationalities have entered the country since 2002. Of those, around 27,000 were sent back to their countries of origin and 4,000 were arrested for various crimes such as drug dealing and violence.

The largest portion of illegal immigrants to Algeria over the past seven years came from Niger and Mali. Others came from various conflict zones in Africa and from Morocco, Tunisia, Syria and several Asian countries.

Most of the immigrants do not settle in Algeria but rather use it as a transit point to reach Europe.

The Algerian authorities are having a tough time preventing hundreds of illegal immigrants from continually infiltrating the country.
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