Official slams campaign to ‘defame’ Algeria

President of the Algerian Red Crescent (CRA) Saida Benhabilès yesterday slammed what she described as the “campaign of defamation” carried out by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) against Algeria.

According to Benhabilès the NGOs accuse Algeria of arbitrarily deporting illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

She added that these organisations do not understand the whole situation and officials are more qualified to make a judgement on such matters.

Algeria came under heavy criticism last week when it was revealed that dozens of migrants had died from dehydration from the Sahara Desert’s scorching heat and thousands more were stranded following a wave of deportations.

Read: Dozens of migrants die after being expelled from Algeria