Algeria

Algeria's geographical location at the intersection of sub-Saharan Arica and Europe makes it a transit country for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. It is also increasingly becoming a country of origin and destination.

Undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers heading to Algeria as a destination or transiting through it are mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. Many remain in Algeria when they fail to reach Europe. They mostly arrive in southern Algeria via Niger and Mali and then move north towards Algeria's coastal cities, where they then travel along the Central and Western Mediterranean routes.

There were at least 173,600 Sahrawi refugees in Algeria as at November 2023. They have been hosted in five refugee camps near Tindouf in southwestern Algeria since 1975. 90% are estimated to be either food-insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity, and they are dependent on humanitarian aid for their livelihoods.

Sahrawi refugees face harsh desert conditions and rely almost fully on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs. Air temperature exceeds 40° C in summer, reaching highs of 50° C and lows of 10° C in winter. These weather conditions result in poor agricultural production, livestock deaths, and increased needs for water and shelter. (MMC 25/10/2023, IFPRI/WFP 18/07/2023, UNHCR 11/05/2023, Weather & Climate accessed 04/02/2024, UN 21/11/2023)