ALGERIANS RIOT IN FRANCE: A REMINDER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 002272

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2015
TAGS: PGOV ECON AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIANS RIOT IN FRANCE: A REMINDER OF
DISCONTENT AT HOME

Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

SUMMARY AND COMMENT
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1. (C) The ongoing rioting in France, which Algerians have
followed on French television, Algerian television, and in
their press, has produced a mixture of smugness and concern
in Algeria. On the one hand, the leadership is not
displeased to show the Algerian youth, who have left in
droves following the completion of their studies in Algeria,
that the grass is not necessarily greener in France or
elsewhere and that unemployment, compounded by
discrimination, can also await them abroad. On the other
hand, there is also publicly and privately voiced concern
that the rioting could combine with simmering social and
economic grievances here to bring Algerians, and particularly
the unemployed youth, into the streets. The permanent fear
of governing elites here -- and a chief motivation for the
more enlightened among them in pressing for reforms and
greater attention to these grievances -- has been to avoid a
repeat of the mid-1980's, when the collapse of oil prices and
plummeting living standards precipitated rioting throughout
the country and the collapse of the one-party system. While
it is a band-aid at best, it is not by chance this week that
the government, in defending the 2006 Finance Law before the
Assembly, stressed new revenues for social housing and the
creation of over 22,000 new public sector jobs.


2. (C) With high oil prices likely to continue for the
foreseeable future, the employment picture improving, state
coffers full and able to provide a cushion, and economic
growth a respectable 5-6 per cent in recent years, the
situation is very different now. Nonetheless, 2005 has seen
sporadic rioting in provincial capitals and towns like
Tamanrasset, Ghardaia, Setif, Bechar, and most recently, in
Arzew. Most of this rioting has sprung from specific local
grievances -- particularly acute unemployment, electricity
and water cuts, distribution of social housing, and state
actions against the informal economy. But against a
background of increasing wealth disparities in the country,
unemployment hovering around 20 per cent or more, economic
progress to date not yet impacting on the average citizen's
daily life, and a severe housing shortage that forces even
some middle class people to live with up to six adults in one
room in Algiers, there is no room for complacency. As former
President Ben Bella publicly warned this week, a state should
meet the minimum needs of its citizenry and it is an abnormal
situation to have people living on the street and
malnourished when the country lives in a favorable state with
its coffers full. (End Summary and Comment)

SPORADIC PROTESTS IN 2005 IN ALGERIA...
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3. (U) As Algerians watch the ugliness of riots in France
unfold on their television screens and across the pages of
their newspapers, they are reminded that the hopes and dreams
of Algerians abroad, such as those taking apart in the French
riots, have been dashed by fears of terrorism from North
Africa (the London bombings) and lack of opportunity and
discrimination, at least as Algerians see it, elsewhere in
Europe. Algerians in the mother country are also reminded of
discontent at home. In this regard, street protests -- with
unemployed youth burning tires, throwing stones, and setting
some buildings on fire -- were a common occurrence in
provincial towns and capitals across Algeria in 2005. A
falling standard of living, drastic housing shortage, water
distribution problems and rising unemployment caused many to
take to the street and express their discontent.

...EVEN IN ARZEW WHERE THE ECONOMY IS RELATIVELY STRONG
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4. (U) Arguably the most prominent riots in Algeria this
year took place in Arzew, where last month during the Muslim
holy month of Ramadan a local mayor, without adequately
preparing the public or assuring alternatives, insensitively
ordered the bulldozing of vendors' stands as part of efforts
against the informal economy. What was described by
authorities as a "routine operation against trade activities"
October 24 turned into a national drama, complete with riots
and confrontations between law enforcement and rioters that
lead to two deaths and millions of dollars in damage.
Although riots occurred in recent months in important cities
like Tamanrasset, Tiaret, Ghardaia, Setif and Bechar, the
riots in Arzew were especially striking because Arzew has a
strong industrial and commercial base and higher living
standards than most other Algerian cities.


5. (U) In an effort to mitigate intractable unemployment, a
large number of youths resorted to taking up informal
commerce, an activity which had been tolerated for a number
of years. One former mayor of Arzew remarked that, "between
a Kalashnikov and illegal trade, the choice is obvious!"
Since 2003, however, a priority of the GOA has been to purify
the Algerian economy from the parasite of informal (and
untaxed) commerce, but without necessarily providing an
alternative enterprise for illegal merchants. One Arzew
rioter was quoted in the press as saying, "I survive on those
tiny square meters. Does the state want to see me begging?"
Although after the riots local authorities promised the
illegal vendors 100 new stands in the near future, the
bitterness remains. As one angry displaced trader told a
journalist: "You see, we are in a country where one forgives
the terrorists but crushes the jobs of family men within a
week of the 'Eid celebration (to mark the end of Ramadan).
Isn't it a shame?"

LIFE FOR ALGERIANS MAY BE NO BETTER ABROAD...
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6. (U) Monitoring reports of the acute social and economic
crisis affecting neighboring France, widely circulated in the
Algerian press, especially the electronic media, leads many
Algerians to wonder how the "social ladder" did not benefit
the millions of children of Algerian immigrants born on
French soil. A number of Algerians tell Embassy contacts,
and the media, that France considers youth of Algerian origin
to be second-class citizens. Algerians sympathize with their
anger and tell us repeatedly that this is "what happens when
people are excluded. We fully sympathize with (the rioters
in France) and fully support them." One university professor
told us it was not coincidental that the GOA, which maintains
a monopoly on electronic media, shows pictures on television
of a France on fire. "Such coverage goes beyond informing
the public, for it is a way for the Government to demonstrate
to the youth of Algeria that the grass is not really greener
(or even green) on the other side of the fence. The
Government wants to put an end to the dreams of a one-way
ticket to France."


ERDMAN