Algeria expels migrants to Niger: HRW

ALGIERS: Algerian security forces have arrested thousands of migrants and asylum seekers, cramming them onto trucks and buses before expelling them across the border in Niger, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

"Algeria is entitled to protect its borders, but not to arbitrarily detain and collectively expel migrants, including children and asylum seekers, without a trace of due process," HRW said. Over 3,400 migrants have been expelled in the past month, HRW said in a statement issued in Beirut. It brings the total number expelled this year to over 16,000, the watchdog added, basing its calculations on reports from aid groups in Niger.