Algeria weaponizes migrants to get back at Spain for W. Sahara shift

Algeria weaponizes migrants to get back at Spain for W. Sahara shift
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Sunday 8 May 2022 - 14:00

Algeria has allowed hundreds of Syrian, Afghan, and Bangladeshi migrants to cross to southeastern Spain onboard small boats, a move pointed out towards Spain for its sudden shift on Western Saraha.

Spanish news outlet The Objective spoke to several  police sources who said that around 1,000 people have been arriving to Spanish shores in the last month and especially during the last week.

Up until recently, the Algerian migratory route to Spain had mostly been used by Algerian nationale.  at least 10,000 Algerians reached the Spanish coast this way between January and December 2021, 20% higher than the previous year.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune previously described Spain’s favoring of Morocco’s position on Western Sahara as “morally and historically unacceptable.”

Speaking to national media, Tebboune denounced the Spanish government for its support for the Moroccan autonomy plan. “We have very strong ties with the Spanish state but the head of government broke everything,” he said.

Algiers last month recalled its ambassador from Madrid in protest against the Spanish shift.

Algeria condemned the “abrupt about-turn” by Madrid, which had previously sought to maintain neutrality in the decades-old conflict over the territory disputed by Morocco and the Algiers-backed Polisario Front independence movement.

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