Minister for Home Affairs meets with Algerian Ambassador to Spain to study stepping up bilateral cooperation

During this meeting, Juan Ignacio Zoido thanked the Algerian Ambassador for the swift response by the Algerian authorities on preventative measures to immediately halt the mass exodus of illegal immigrants from Algeria which avoided a larger number of vessels leaving to head to Spain over the weekend. At least 382 immigrants were intercepted trying to leave Algeria in the early hours of Monday morning.

Furthermore, Juan Ignacio Zoido acknowledged not only the temporary efforts but also the work being done by the Algerian authorities to combat illegal immigration, work that both agreed is a combined long-term project. For that reason, Juan Ignacio Zoido offered all the support and maximum collaboration from Spain in continuing with the preventative work and to fight the human trafficking networks on the illegal immigration routes from Africa to Europe.

During this meeting, they also agreed on the importance of discovering and tackling the grass-root causes for this mass illegal immigration, as well as to fight the so-called "pull factor".

Lastly, Juan Ignacio Zoido suggested making a trip in the near future to Algiers (Algeria) to meet up with his Algerian counterpart with the aim of jointly analysing the fight against illegal immigration and collaboration between our two countries, collaboration that goes beyond the mere scope of migration.

Non official translation