The Governance of Irregular Migration in Southern Algeria: Politics, Smuggling and Migrant Pathways

Abstract

This thesis assesses the governance of irregular migration and the practicalities of human smuggling in southern Algeria. It looks at the drivers, functionalities and institutions governing irregular migration and human smuggling in Algeria’s south and along its borders with Mali and Niger. After a brief overview of the history of irregular migration in the Sahara, the study analyses the mechanics and instruments through which the Algerian authorities manage irregular migration. It shows that they often attempt to play a balancing act between enforcing a hard security agenda while taking into account the role of the irregular migration economy for borderland people. Moreover, the thesis offers a micro assessment of migrant strategies and smugglers' modus operandi in the villages and cities along Algeria's borders with Mali and Niger, drawing from extensive fieldwork conducted across the region. Human smuggling appears to be a highly 'regulated activity' through a network of rules shared between the borderland actors. The study presents the features associated with the politics of informal rules of human smuggling, portraying them as contingent on their political and security environment. Finally, the research develops a chapter on the daily lives of migrants in the city of Tamanrasset, Algeria's southern main city, showing how migrants' presence shapes the city's character. It looks in particular at how lodging places, known locally as 'foyers', play an essential role in a migrant's life trajectory. Moreover, the research analyses the complex relationship between smugglers and migrants, notably via the activities of former smugglers ('passeurs') who became owners of 'foyers', playing a critical social role for new migrants.