German State Media: Algerian Security Forces Have Raped, Tortured Migrants and then dumped them in the Desert
German state media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) has reported alarming claims of systematic abuse and human rights violations committed by Algerian security forces against migrants and asylum seekers. Testimonies collected by the NGO Alarm Phone Sahara describe forced expulsions, physical violence, sexual abuse, and abandonment in the desert.
According to Moctar Dan Yaye, co-founder of Alarm Phone Sahara, over 4,000 migrants, mostly from Niger and Mali, other African countries, but also from Syria, Yemen, and Bangladesh, have been forcibly deported in April 2025 alone. The migrants , including women and children, are rounded up, stripped of their belongings, physically assaulted, raped, and then bused to an isolated border region known as “Point Zero” and left to walk 15 kilometers through the desert to reach the Nigerien town of Assamaka, and left without food, water, or shelter.
The allegations reported by the German state media include: confiscation of mobile phones and personal belongings, physical beatings, sexual violence against women, documented deaths following desert pushbacks.
“This is in clear violation of international law, including the principle of non-refoulement,” said Dan Yaye. He further warned that these pushbacks are part of a long-standing pattern since the arrival of Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Saïd Chengriha in power in 2020.
DW’s report highlights that Germany has provided training and assistance to Algerian border forces since 2017, raising questions of EU complicity in these operations. Alarm Phone Sahara is urging the European Union, United Nations, and African Union to act immediately and hold Algeria accountable, as it undermines the EU’s own human rights commitments. Dan Yaye calls for urgent international legal accountability, a halt to EU-Algeria cooperation tied to migrant repression, and a reframing of migration policy away from securitization toward human protection and dignity.
Abderrahmane Fares.
