As many as 15 Algerian job seekers protested yesterday in the Ouargla Province demanding they be employed in the region’s oil companies.
The Anadolu Agency said the job seekers gathered in the region which is 800 kilometres southeast of the country’s capital Algiers and sewed their mouths shut in the presence of police forces.
Leader of the National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Unemployed (CNDDC) and one of the protesters, Aybak Abdul Malik, told Anadolu: “Almost two weeks ago, six job seekers sewed their mouths shut and did not stop their protest until the Algerian authorities promised to provide them jobs.”
Another protester, Ammar Karkar, said: “We demanded several months ago to attend a committee to investigate cases of law violation during recruitment in oil companies, but the authorities have refused our requests and therefore we decided to escalate our protest.”
Local journalist Boushret Abdul Hai said: “Several provinces in the south witness almost daily protests organised by job seekers demanding jobs. The authorities often tell them that Jobs are available in construction and agriculture projects but not in the oil companies.”
“A majority of the job seekers in Algeria want to work in oil companies because of the high wages, but because the number of jobs in this sector is limited, protests take place all the time,” he added.
According to Algerian authorities, unemployment stands at 10 per cent in the country, but human rights organisations stress the actual number exceeds 30 per cent among young people.