The Algerian Coast Guard recovered three bodies in the Mediterranean Sea within a week and prevented more than 750 other migrants from crossing to Europe. As the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday, several boats with 755 migrants were picked up off the Algerian coast from Sunday to Friday.
On Monday, the ministry had already announced that ten people had drowned and 485 migrants had been picked up in the previous days.
The majority of migrants heading for Europe from Algeria are Algerian citizens. Despite a law from 2009 that imposes sentences of up to six months in prison for illegal emigrants, thousands of mostly young Algerians are making the dangerous journey.
According to current figures from the European border protection agency Frontex, more than 6000 Algerians arrived illegally in Europe in the first eight months of 2020. According to some experts, the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. On the last weekend in July alone, according to Spanish media reports, more than 800 Algerians landed on the Spanish coast.
