Algeria has deported 355 Nigerien illegal migrants to their country of origin, the Algerian Council for Human Rights said Wednesday in a statement. We express our full satisfaction with the progress of this operation which departed from the capital city Algiers to the southernmost province of Tamanrasset, on the border with Niger and Mali, the source noted. A delegation of the council accompanied the humanitarian convoy charged with the deportation of 355 Nigerien migrants to their homeland. The council pointed out that the delegation included a multidisciplinary team of doctors and psychologists. The statement specified that the deportation process was covered by local and international media, and attended by observers from the UN agencies accredited to Algeria, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization of Migrants. The statement called on all actors involved in the issue of migration at the national and international levels to think deeply about reaching sustainable solution to undocumented migrants and transnational migration, which several countries, including Algeria, are facing. The North African nation was severely criticized by some human rights NGOs after authorities sent home illegal migrants originated from sub-Saharan nations. A couple of months ago, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office Ravina Shamdasani called Algeria to stop massive expulsions of migrants, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, warning that this expulsion campaign would lead to a rise in racism and xenophobia against sub-Saharan Africans. The Algerian government was due to invite NGOs and both local and international media to attend the process of the deportation of illegal migrants, in a bid to dispel reports of mistreating migrants. Xinhua
