This Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) condemned the “abandonment” of thousands of migrants who had been driven out of Algeria and were now residing in Assamaka, a city in the Agadez region of northern Niger.

“Thousands of migrants evicted from Algeria and abandoned in the desert (in the north) of Niger are stuck, without access to housing, medical care, protection and basic necessities,” the Organization said in a news release. The same source calls it “an unprecedented circumstance”.

Less than 15% of the 4,677 migrants who arrived in Assamaka on foot between January 11 and March 3, 2023, according to MSF, were able to receive shelter or other forms of safety.

MSF is “distributing non-food products” and providing “free health consultations” at the Assamaka Integrated Health Center (ICS), which is “overwhelmed” by the demand. “Most of the people who just arrived in Assamaka settled in the CSI property, due to lack of room in the transit center,” said Schemssa Kimana, MSF coordinator in Agadez, quoted in the press release.

Many “seek refuge from the heat” that may “reach 48°C” in Assamaka, MSF continues, even sleeping in “makeshift tents” in front of maternity wards, on roofs, or in trash. These people are exposed to “health hazards like as infectious diseases and skin infections” in “unhygienic” settings, according to MSF.

A situation that “needs an immediate humanitarian response from ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), where most of these people are from,” according to Jamal Mrrouch, head of the MSF mission in Niger, is condemned. Within 15 kilometers of Assamaka, MSF projected in June 2022 that over 14,000 people had experienced the same fate since the year’s commencement, and 27,208 in 2021.

In October 2018, a UN human rights official urged Algeria to “immediately suspend deportations of African migrants” to Niger, which, according to the International Organization for Human Rights, had “sharply increased” that year and in 2019. (OIM).

Read Also: BCIJ director reveals latest updates on terrorist attack on police officer

The post Algeria “abandons” thousands of migrants in Niger (NGO) appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

The authorities succeeded on Thursday morning in arresting more than 80 migrants in the forest of Gourougou in the province of Nador.

The detained migrants, of different nationalities, originating from sub-Saharan countries, are sheltering in the mentioned forest while waiting to escape to the northern shore.

Human rights sources have indicated that the sweep operation carried out by the authorities resulted in the fracture of 5 migrants.

In the same context, the Moroccan authorities should deport the arrested migrants to the southern cities.

The intervention of the authorities to prevent the gathering of migrants in the forest of “Gourougou” is part of the proactive plans they are putting in place to avoid any possible storming of the occupied city of Melilla, as happened on 24 June, an incident that cost the lives of 23 migrants and injured dozens of members of the public forces of various gravity.

Read Also: Algeria, a new EU entry point for irregular migrants

The post The arrest of more than 80 migrants in the Gourougou forest in the province of Nador appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

After 3 years of implementation, the Work4Integration program concludes with tangible and positive results. Launched in 2018, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Italian organization Soleterre, the project succeeded in establishing and financing 22 startup companies for small collective enterprises in Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and Tangier-Tetouan regions. The concluding event of the project took place on the 18^th of December, 2020; which coincides with International Immigrants Day.

• 22 companies (5 cooperatives and 17 SARL companies) were established and financed in Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and Tangier-Tetouan regions; a number that goes beyond ten startup companies planned to be launched.
• Over 2000 migrants have been mentored and supported through project centers in Rabat and Tangier.
• About 1.963.438 MAD (180.000 EURO) was directly paid to beneficiaries in the funds of startup companies.

Work4Integration project has succeeded in supporting talents of young immigrants and embodying their ideas by establishing their companies in various fields of activity: décor, sewing, hairdressing, education, catering, technology, audio-visual services, cleaning.

Support for these startup companies (5 cooperatives and 17 SARL companies) includes training, business development, the study of the market, project execution and financing. It will continue to keep up with post-establishment that lasts for 3 years.

Additionally, Work4Integration has led its incubators to independence, by encouraging them to advertise outside and through the Internet, and by joining new technologies into digital marketing to promote their services and products in order to attract and keep their customers. Furthermore, the project disbursed approximately 1.963.438 MAD (180.000 EURO) directly to the funds of the beneficiaries. Thus, collective startup companies have succeeded in positioning themselves in the local market, recruiting employees and retaining their customers. Most of them submitted their report on annual activities.

Work4Integration was implemented with the help of several partners: Entraide Nationale, ISCOS Marche Onlus, OJA, ODCO, and Maroc PME. The program is coming to an end after achieving results that exceeded expectations and proposing doing more in the future, in positive and comprehensive cooperation for all parties involved.

About Work4Integration:

Work4Integration (W4I), funded by the European Union and implemented by Soleterre, is an initiative launched in 2018 in Rabat with the aim of integrating migrants into a legal status in the Moroccan society through economic and professional integration. The total budget of W4I reached 7.862.994,85 MAD (720.847 EUR) in 3 years; 2/3 of which was issued for activities, communication, and the formation of small entrepreneurs.

About ONLUSSOLETERRE:

Soleterre is a secular, independent, humanitarian, Italian organization. It’s located in various countries, including Morocco since 2003. It works to ensure preserved human rights in “single territories”. It implements different projects and activities for the benefit of parties in vulnerable situations; counting health, psychological, social, educational, and professional ones. It intervenes with peace strategies to facilitate a peaceful resolution for the conflict and emphasize a culture of solidarity.

The post The W4I Project Unveils its Results appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.