Africans fear heightened racism in Algeria following showdown with Sahel states

Africans in Algeria,who have often been stigmatized,fear heightened racism amid tensions between the Algerian regime and its Sahel neighbors.

Algeria’s social media is awash with Afrophobia and anti-migrant sentiment with a surge in calls for hostile acts against Sub-Saharans,who already suffer from degrading treatment in Algeria.

Anti-migrant sentiment was stoked when Algeria targeted a Malian drone outside its borders,leading Mali and its Sahel allies- Niger and Burkina Faso- to recall ambassadors. Mali accused Algeria of using and backing terrorism to advance its regional agenda. The tension culminated in Algeria closing its airspace to Mali,which responded with a similar move.

The ill-treatment of African migrants in Algeria is set to add more fuel to the fire. Algeria is notorious for its media blackout preventing independent journalists from investigating migrants’ living conditions in the country.

Niger and Mali have often complained against the persecution of migrants by the Algerian authorities,notably in their inhumane practice of bussing and abandoning thousands of Sub-Saharans on the desert border in harsh conditions,often leading to the deaths of many.

Last April,angry Malians protested in Bamako against Algeria’s hostile acts,citing in particular the mistreatment of Sub-Saharans.

Reports of migrants stranded without food and water in extreme heat on the border with Niger have often triggered concern from the IOM,Human Rights Watch and other rights watchdogs.