Algeria Expels Tens of Thousands of Malian refugees

Citing national security concerns, the Algerian authorities on October 20th began expelling Malian refugees who had fled Menaka region—a stronghold of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara—from the outskirts of the Algerian side of the city of Tinzaouaten which straddles the Malian-Algerian border..What You Need to KnowOnce acting as safe haven for those fleeing Islamic terrorism in the nation, Malian Tinzaouaten, now seen as a stronghold of the Tuareg separatists movement after the separatists dealt a devastating defeat to Wagner-backed Malian forces in late July, has become a key conflict zone.Drone and airstrikes ordered by the Malian junta on the commune and its surrounds in recent months have forced further internally displaced peoples (IDPs) into the outer areas of Algerian Tinzaouaten, where they have little shelter, little-to-no access to water and no schooling for their children.A series of junta drone strikes on the commune in August destroyed the area's only pharmacy, as well as killed several children. Since then, malaria and diphtheria has ravaged the community, particularly the young.A Russian mercenary source in the country noted that the loss of children's lives in the commune should not be looked mournfully upon."And also, the Azawadians [Tuaregs] do not concentrate their forces in times of peace, living their normal lives. So there is no difference between combatants and non-combatants, even as children," they said.Inkinane Ag Attaher, a military official within the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Tuareg separatist movement that scored major wins against the Malian government in 2012 before the now-terminated Algiers Peace Accord was signed noted the plight of Tuareg civilians on his X."The displaced peopled from Menaka and then from Tinzaouaten settled in extreme conditions on a hill on the outskirts of the Algerian town of Tinzaouaten. They are suffering from several diseases including malaria and diphtheria."The recent expulsions have forced many of the IDPs to return back to Inaghalawass, still on the border but between the Malian communes of Tinzaouaten and Boughessa—an area often transited by Islamic militants.To bolster the security of its side of the commune, Algeria has begun the construction of a separation barrier to divide Malian Tinzaouaten from Algerian Tinzaouaten, with the civilians on the Malian side facing attacks from the junta and its Russian-backed mercenaries, as well as hunger, lack of water, and sickness.