DESPERATELY LOOKING NORTH: THE MIGRANTS OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 000492

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2024
TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER PINR PINS SOCI ML NG AG
SUBJECT: DESPERATELY LOOKING NORTH: THE MIGRANTS OF THE
SAHARA

REF: ALGIERS 463

ALGIERS 00000492 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Acting DCM Mark Schapiro; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The cities of Tamanrasset and Djanet in the
Algerian south have become extended transit hubs for
thousands of illegal migrants from sub Saharan Africa who are
looking north to seek opportunity. With 130,000 residents,
Tamanrasset is the largest population center in southern
Algeria and is located 450 kilometers north of the Malian
border town of Tinzaouatene and 400 kilometers north of
Niger's In Guezzam. A Saharan crossroads, Tamanrasset is
home to 47 African nationalities, according to Mayor Ahmed
Benmalek, and is the primary stopover point for migrants
traveling from central Africa to Mali, and then north to
Algeria. To the northeast of Tamanrasset, Djanet has only
14,000 residents; however, its proximity to Libya, which is
only 80 kilometers away, has made the city a hub for
clandestine migrants from northern Niger cutting the corner
of Algeria en route to Ghat, Libya, or further north.
Tamanrasset Mayor Benmalek told us that most migrants are
desperate to improve their economic well-being and arrive
with the goal of continuing north, crossing the border to
Morocco and then on to Europe. In reality, many never leave
Tamanrasset and stay on to work as manual laborers, or become
involved in criminal networks run by various migrant groups.
The region's vast, porous borders have enticed thousands of
migrants to risk their lives in the desert and have strained
the capacity of Mali and Niger's weak border infrastructure;
all while creating a booming market for smugglers and
counterfeiters. END SUMMARY.

SAY YOU'RE FROM MALI
--------------


2. (C) Algeria's border policy in the south dates back to the
1962 war of independence during which Mali openly supported
Algeria's effort against colonial France, while Niger
preferred to remain aloof and not take sides. Never wont to
forgive a perceived slight, Algeria instituted a visa regime
for citizens of Niger, but repaid Mali's moral support for
independence with visa-free travel. Today, Malian citizens
need only present their passport and vaccination record to
enter Algeria.


3. (C) Namakoro Diarra, Mali's Consul General in Tamanrasset
for the past eight years, told us on March 25 that the
bilateral visa-free agreement between Mali and Algeria also
backfires. The policy, according to Diarra, has encouraged
thousands of migrants to use Mali as a transit route into
Algeria, straining Mali's capacity to mange its border, and
creating a boom industry for smugglers and counterfeiters of
Malian documents. Worse still, Diarra complained, when
illegal migrants are caught, Algerian authorities simply
transport them back to Tinzaouatene and "dump them back on
us." Diarra said an informal census done by his consulate
counted 1,337 Malian residents in Tamanrasset, but he
admitted the real number was likely higher and the census was
not yet complete as of the end of March. Diarra's
administrator, Mousa Dafanga, said the consulate has been
flooded with requests for Malian travel documents,
particularly consular registration cards which serve as a
residence permit. Dafanga said he was fighting an uphill
battle to stem the use of counterfeit documents obtained by
some to enter Algeria, or establish eligibility for residence
cards. As he showed us examples of orange consular
registration cards alongside the fakes he and local
authorities have seized, Dafanga explained that the consulate
recently began issuing an additional "carte de matriculation"
for each residence card to help Algerian authorities identify
fakes. "It's only a matter of time before criminals copy
this too," Dafanga predicted, "then I don't know what we will
do."

CASH, SMUGGLERS AND VICE
--------------


4. (C) Local NGO activist Faycal Abdelaziz, a native of
Tamanrasset who has worked for several years with the
region's Nigerien migrant population, said migrant
communities are highly cohesive and organize themselves based

ALGIERS 00000492 002.2 OF 003


on group loyalty. This, he said, is best demonstrated by the
structure of migrant smuggling and prostitution rings.
Criminal activity, he explained, is arranged by nationality.
"Malians work for Malians and Nigerians for Nigerians, and so
on," he said. Abdelaziz told us the region's large military
presence created a demand for prostitution. He estimated
that Nigerian and Ghanaian prostitution rings brought several
hundred women to Algeria each year for this purpose, for
example. As to other criminal activity, Abdelaziz mentioned
Nigeria as the primary source of illegal drugs and
counterfeit money in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigerians, he
added, are also the most violent. In terms of moving cash
and proceeds from criminal activity, Abdelaziz said migrants
use cell phones to transfer phone card credit that can be
converted into cash, or simply wire funds through Western
Union. For 3,000 dinars (USD 40),Abdelaziz told us,
Congolese and Cameroonian smugglers arrange transportation in
4x4 Toyota trucks driven by Malian Tuaregs to help migrants
cross into Algeria.


5. (C) The historical Tuareg slave trade, he said, has
disappeared in the region as Tuareg culture has become more
urbanized in Algeria. He explained, however, that there were
concerns about modern forms of slavery, such as trafficking,
that occur within the scope of criminal activity. Abdelaziz
recalled one story in which a Nigerien girl was used as
payment for a shipment of contraband from Niger. More
common, he said, was the exploitation of migrant children for
street begging and menial labor. French expat and longtime
Tamanrasset resident Nicolas Loisillon told us some African
migrants force their relatives into prostitution as a means
to earn money for onward travel to Europe. If this fails,
Loisillon said, a family may leave a son or daughter with a
smuggler's kin to work off debt incurred for travel to
Europe. Most of the time, Loisillon continued, migrants fail
to earn enough money to leave and end up staying in
Tamanrasset to work and send money back home to relatives.

STAY AND WORK
--------------


6. (C) Many contacts in Tamanrasset told us that obstacles to
obtaining Algerian residence and work permits made working
legally in Algeria difficult. However, growing tourism and
development in the region now provide seasonal employment for
migrants coming from some of the most isolated corners of the
Sahara, according to Loisillon. Mokhtar Zounga's Akar-Akar
tour agency operates a desert resort in the village of Outoul
several kilometers outside of Tamanrasset that he says
employs a small village in Niger located just across the
border from Algeria. Half of the village works at the resort
at any given time, Zounga explained, and they rotate with the
other half, seasonally. Djanet's growing tourism industry
also draws on seasonal labor from Niger to employ cooks,
house cleaners and maintenance workers, according to Djanet
tour operator Hamou Dahou. Authorities in Tamanrasset told
us they welcomed the opportunity to employ Africans who come
to Algeria legally, citing the need for more manual labor to
support local development programs. But Boubekeur,
Tamanrasset's wali, acknowledged it was hard to identify
illegal migrants and prevent them from working.

DEATH IN THE TASSILI
--------------


7. (C) In addition to their exposure to criminal threats and
refoulement, migrants must also assume the risks of
navigating the desolate, harsh desert terrain of the Sahel
and southern Sahara. Djanet tour operator Hamou Dahou told
us that Tuareg guides, some of whom work as smugglers outside
of the tourist season, know the desert well and can map safe
routes with ample sources of water. However, he said desert
travel "is not without risks." Not all smugglers are
familiar enough with the location of wells. "Vehicles break
down, and sometimes people lose their way. These people are
doomed," he remarked. Dahou has led groups in the Tassili
national park for thirty years. He told us his groups
frequently encounter migrants walking from Niger towards
Libya along the Tassili plateau. His guides have rescued
migrants whom they have found near death after being
abandoned by smugglers. Dahou said some tour operators

ALGIERS 00000492 003.2 OF 003


contact the National Gendarmerie to assist with rescues, but
migrants are often reluctant to accept help for fear they
will be deported. Many of those who get into trouble,
however, never see help. Dahou recounted one case in which
he discovered a Muslim African in the desert who had clad
himself in white and covered his face, stacked his documents
neatly under a rock, and layed down in the sand to die. "He
knew there was nothing he could do, and accepted it."

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The diversity, migration and labor patterns of
Tamanrasset and Djanet make the region a unique area for
opportunism, whether in the form of smuggling, trafficking,
or extremist recruitment (reftel). As reported in reftel,
the Algerian government maintains an active grip on relations
with local tribes, watching carefully the ways in which
desperation can feed extremism. The resulting interethnic
cocktail makes Tamanrasset in particular an ideal place for
programming and engagement, as these activities can ripple
out into the Sahara. However, the degree of government
control means that civil society and non-governmental
partners are all but non-existent in Algeria's deep south.
Our contacts in Tamanrasset and Djanet were unanimous in
touting tourism as the lifeblood of the region, the best hope
for increased employment and education. In the meantime, the
vast expanse of desert along Algeria's southern border is
almost impossible to secure completely, meaning the steady
flow of migrants heading north at all costs will continue.
PEARCE