A least 606 people trying to cross the Mediterranean have been reported dead or missing since the beginning of 2026, marking the “deadliest start to a year” in more than a decade, the UN’s migration agency.
The migrants dead toll includes more than 117 Algerians who lost their lives in the Sea while attempting to flee poverty and repression in their country, an OPEC member. Yet, Algerians suffer from unemployment, deteriorating living conditions with soaring prices, eroding purchasing power, and shortage of basic staple foods, while the oil-gas revenues are used by top military brass to purchase Russian weapons and line-up their pockets.
According to experts of International Organization for Migration (IOM), the death of Algerian migrants in the Mediterranean could have been avoided. But, the Algerian authorities look the other way, focusing on other priorities with changing geostrategic landscape.
The Algerian State has abandoned its youth and desperate families to their fate, leaving them piling into makeshift boats sailing to Europe via Spain or Italy, while others head for Libya where they fall into the hands armed militias and smuggling networks.
Algeria refuses enhanced coordination with Europe, dodging its responsibility in the growing wave of clandestine migrants leaving the country on the verge of implosion
According to IOM officials, the Algerian State is responsible for this dramatic situation. They blame President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Army Chief Saïd Chengriha for the lack of tough measures to prevent and control migratory flows.