As many as 10 million Algerians are living in extreme poverty and are deprived of basic human rights, a human rights organisation said yesterday.
The Andolu Agency reported a statement released by the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights which said: “As many as 10 million Algerians suffer from poverty and are deprived of the right to a decent standard of living, including food.”
According to the Algerian Bureau of Statistics, the country’s population increased at the start of this year to 39.5 million people.
The organisation said there were more than 1,628,000 needy families in 2014.
It considered the eradication of extreme poverty in Algeria “not only a moral duty, but also a legal obligation.
Algeria’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Mohamed Isa said last week that his ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs, counted more than 600,000 poor families in Algeria who need support from the Zakat Fund.
The organisation pointed out that poverty is a violation of basic rights and human dignity, as the inability to obtain basic items stops people being able to live a decent life.
It criticised the delay in the distribution of Ramadan baskets; a subsidy provided by the government before the Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan saying: “The delay has drawn a melancholy image near the distribution centres.”
The organisation said that with the advent of Ramadan, the poor feel an “extreme inability to provide for the holy month’s expenses leaving them in extreme sorrow”.
All municipalities in Algeria began on 4 May to collect data on poor families who need support during Ramadan, it said. This generated a state of chaos within the municipalities by the endless queues of poor citizens who wanted help.