AMNESTY URGED ALGERIA ‘NOT TO DEPORT YEMEN REFUGEES’

Thu 24 December 2020:

Amnesty International on Wednesday called on the Algerian authorities to halt the deportation of “seven Yemeni asylum seekers”.

“Seven Yemeni asylum seekers face imminent deportation from Algeria, which is considered a serious violation of international law,” Amnesty said in a statement.

It pointed out that the refugees had expressed their “fear of death if they were deported to Yemen due to the tragic conditions back home.”

The international organisation called on Algerian authorities “to prevent forcible returns” and “to provide access to asylum procedures for young Yemenis.”

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 to restore the Yemeni government ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by Iran-aligned Houthi forces in late 2014.

The war – which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis – has displaced more than four million people and forced thousands to seek asylum abroad. The United Nations has said that the conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.