Algeria’s Harraga: 4,000 Reach Spain in Two Days as Migration Becomes Political Leverage

🗓️Published on: 19/07/2026

The issue of Algerian harraga heading towards Spain has once again come to the fore following reports that approximately 4,000 irregular migrants arrived in the country within the space of two days.

In recent days, a number of Spanish and Algerian activists have circulated reports claiming that around 4,000 irregular migrants from Algeria reached the Spanish coast. To date, we have been unable to independently verify the accuracy of this figure, nor have we found official statistics from the Spanish authorities providing a breakdown of arrivals by nationality or country of departure.

The debate over the accuracy of this figure should not, however, obscure a fundamental reality: irregular migration (commonly known in Algeria as harga) has become a growing and dangerous phenomenon. It can no longer be dismissed as a series of isolated incidents or temporary seasonal waves.

Official Spanish datanevertheless reveal the scale of migratory movements across this part of the Mediterranean. Between the beginning of 2026 and 15 July, a total of 7,032 migrants arrived by sea in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands. Of these, 3,788 reached mainland Spain and 3,244 arrived in the Balearic Islands.

These figures do not indicate how many of those arriving were Algerian, nor do they establish precisely how many boats departed exclusively from the Algerian coast. They do, however, clearly demonstrate the growing scale of maritime crossings towards Spain. Official figures may also fail to reflect the total number of people who reached Spanish territory without being intercepted or registered by the coastguard or other competent authorities. The true scale of the phenomenon is therefore likely to be greater than the published figures suggest.

In the same context, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency,Frontex, confirmed that the Western Mediterranean route was the only major migratory route to record an increase in irregular crossings during the first half of 2026. Crossings rose by 17 per cent, driven primarily by an increase in departures from Algeria. During the first four months of the same year, the increase reached 50 per cent.

Harraga Are Not Fleeing Poverty Alone, but a Closed Political and Social Reality

One of the most common mistakes is to reduce the phenomenon of harga to a taste for adventure or a desire to achieve a better standard of living. Many of the young people who risk their lives at sea are leaving Algeria because they have lost confidence and hope in their ability to build a dignified future in their own country.

They are fleeing unemployment, marginalisation, bureaucracy and the absence of prospects. But they are also fleeing—and perhaps more fundamentally—a closed political and social reality in which citizens feel powerless to influence the decisions that shape their future. They are fleeing a political system that rejects genuine dialogue, closes public space, restricts independent civil society, trade unions, the media and human rights defenders, and targets anyone who attempts to express a dissenting opinion or criticise existing policies.

In January 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenderswarned that human rights defenders in Algeria continued to be criminalised and prosecuted because of their peaceful activities. International human rights and trade union organisations have also documented continuing restrictions on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, as well as the obstacles imposed on independent trade unions, political parties and civil society organisations.

The boat leaving the Algerian coast is therefore only the final stage in a long process of frustration and loss of hope. Before condemning the young person who takes to the sea, or placing sole responsibility on them for that decision, it is necessary to scrutinise the policies that led them to believe that confronting death at sea may be preferable to remaining in a country where they see no future and where their voice is never heard.

Has Irregular Migration Become an Instrument of Political Pressure?

The growing number of departures from the Algerian coast, and the alarming number of Algerians fleeing their country, raise a legitimate political question about how the Algerian authorities are managing this issue and whether it is being used within their negotiating relationships with European states.

In the absence of direct evidence and independent investigations, we cannot assert that the Algerian government, or influential actors within the ruling establishment, are deliberately facilitating irregular migration. Changes in regional migration routes must also be taken into consideration. Frontex has indicated that tighter controls on other routes, particularly those departing from Morocco and crossing the Western and Central Mediterranean, have redirected part of the activity of smuggling networks towards the Algerian coast. During the first four months of 2026, the Western Mediterranean route recorded an increase of 50 per cent, driven primarily by departures from Algeria.

This explanation does not, however, eliminate the legitimate questions raised by the sudden increase in the number of boats. Nor does it relieve the Algerian authorities of their responsibility to explain the effectiveness of surveillance along the country’s coastline, which extends for more than one thousand kilometres, or the measures being taken against the networks organising these crossings and exposing citizens’ lives to danger in exchange for enormous sums of money. According to testimonies received by us, the cost of some crossings exceeds €10,000 per person.

The absence of detailed official Algerian data raises further questions. There is insufficient transparency to allow the public to know how many people have departed from the Algerian coast, how many were stopped before leaving, how many crossings were prevented, or how many migrants have disappeared at sea.

The scattered reports published by the Algerian press about the interception of particular crossings cannot be regarded as comprehensive statistics. Yet the limited number of cases publicly reported during 2026—amounting to no more than a few dozen—when compared with the sharp rise in arrivals in Spain, raises legitimate questions about the number of operations that went undetected and whether the security measures announced are proportionate to the scale of the phenomenon.

It is also impossible to ignore the fact that migration has become an instrument of negotiation and political pressure in international relations. It is connected to visa policies, the removal of people in irregular situations, the issuance of consular travel documents, the readmission of nationals, financial assistance and security cooperation.

This interconnection has been particularly visible in the crisis affecting Algerian-French relations since 2024. Algeria’s acceptance of nationals subject to removal orders, the issuance of the consular documents required for their return, and visa policy have all become major sources of tension between the two countries. In 2025, the dispute reached the point where Algeria refused to accept a list of its own nationals whom France sought to deport, before cooperation in this field underwent further developments during 2026.

This is precisely where the danger identified the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) lies: the migrant risks being reduced to a number in diplomatic negotiations, or transformed into an instrument used by governments to obtain political or security concessions, with no regard for their dignity, life or rights.

An Algerian migrant, whether in a regular or irregular situation, must never become a bargaining chip between Algeria and Europe or an instrument of pressure in diplomatic disputes. They are citizens driven by the absence of prospects to risk their lives. Everyone has a responsibility to treat them as human beings and rights-holders, not as tools in a struggle between competing governmental interests.

The European Approach Addresses the Consequences and Ignores the Causes

During a previous meeting with European Union officials, before the phenomenon reached its current scale, we warned that the response to migration from Algeria could not be limited to negotiations with the Algerian government over border controls, deportations and the readmission of nationals subject to removal. We also warned that this issue could be instrumentalised in connection with other matters and used to advance diplomatic objectives that do nothing to resolve the underlying problem.

We stressed that a sustainable solution does not begin in detention centres or on deportation flights. It begins by addressing the political, social and economic conditions that are driving Algerians to flee their country.

European priorities nevertheless remain largely focused on strengthening border controls, accelerating return procedures, increasing deportation rates and reinforcing cooperation with governments in countries of origin and transit. The European Union’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into application in June 2026, alongside new rules intended to increase the return of people who have no legal right to remain.

This approach may temporarily reduce the number of people living in irregular situations in Europe, but it does not address the reasons that continue to drive increasing numbers of people to leave. Nor does it prevent some deported individuals from attempting the same crossing again after a short period, using the same routes and the same dangerous means, so long as the conditions that originally forced them to leave remain unchanged.

More seriously, this approach grants authoritarian governments the status of indispensable partners in protecting Europe’s borders and provides them with political cover to continue internal repression without addressing its consequences. The more spaces for expression, organisation and civic action are closed, and the greater the pressure placed on citizens, the greater the likelihood of migration and the deeper the loss of confidence in the future.

At the same time, the European Union’s excessive dependence on such governments in migration matters weakens its ability to confront them over human rights violations, restrictions on freedoms, the closure of civic space, and repression targeting independent trade unions and human rights defenders.

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces considers that any European cooperation with Algeria that ignores the state of public freedoms, trade union rights and the independence of civil society will not bring irregular migration to an end. On the contrary, it may aggravate its causes, postpone a wider eruption and multiply its human cost for Algerians and European countries alike.

The Sea Has Become a Mass Grave

This issue cannot be treated solely as a security matter. Behind every number is a family waiting for news, a mother searching for her son, children who have lost their fathers, and people swallowed by the sea whose names and burial places remain unknown.

According to documentation byCaminando Fronteras, 507 people died or disappeared along the Algerian route to Spain during the first five months of 2026—an increase of approximately 54 per cent compared with the same period the previous year. The organisation also reported the absence of effective joint operational search-and-rescue protocols between Algeria and Spain, as well as delays and deficiencies in responses to distress alerts involving boats at risk of sinking.

These figures leave no room for any party to claim a security success. A reduction in the number of arrivals cannot be described as a success when its price is an increase in the number of dead and missing.

The Responsibility of Independent Algerian Civil Society

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces believes that independent Algerian civil society bears a fundamental responsibility to defend Algerian migrants, regardless of their legal status or the manner in which they left the country.

This work must include bringing the issue before the relevant international and regional institutions, including the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the European Union and the European Parliament.

The objective must be to warn against the dangers of addressing only the consequences of migration—through deportations and tighter borders—while ignoring the political, social and economic causes that are driving Algerians to leave. Civil society must also document cases of disappearance and drowning, accompany the families of missing persons, support Algerians living in irregular situations in Europe, and demand the publication of information concerning those who have been detained or have disappeared. It must defend the right of survivors to humane treatment, ensure that applications for protection and asylum are examined individually and fairly, and prevent people from being returned to circumstances in which they may face persecution or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

This responsibility also requires structured and sustained cooperation with European trade unions, human rights organisations, media outlets and civil society actors in Spain and throughout Europe. Such cooperation must explain the deeper causes of Algerian migration and prevent security-driven or racist narratives from monopolising the public debate.

It must not be limited to humanitarian solidarity. It must also seek to influence European policy and encourage the institutions of the European Union and its Member States to reconsider their approach, moving beyond the exclusive logic of border protection towards addressing the conditions that force citizens to flee.

European public opinion must understand that the harrag, whether Algerian or of another nationality, is not a threat arriving from the South. They are human beings driven by despair and the loss of hope to place their lives in a boat. It must also understand that some governments may treat them as instruments of negotiation and political pressure, while migrants alone bear the human cost of political and diplomatic conflicts between states.

COSYFOP’s Proposals for a More Effective and Humane European Approach

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces proposes that the European Union reconsider its approach towards Algeria and move away from a policy limited to managing migration flows and controlling borders towards one that addresses the political, social and economic conditions driving Algerians to leave their country.

In our view, such an approach requires direct and transparent support for independent Algerian civil society organisations, and stronger protection for human rights defenders, trade unionists and journalists, whether they remain inside Algeria or have been forced to leave and seek protection abroad.

We also recommend supporting trade unionists and human rights defenders living in exile or under international protection, and enabling them to continue their civic, human rights and trade union activities. Their forced departure from Algeria does not end their role, strip them of their status or sever their connection to the causes they defended inside the country.

Political and security cooperation with the Algerian authorities should be based on respect for fundamental freedoms, human rights and the independence of civil society. Temporary cooperation on border controls must not become a substitute for addressing the reasons that push citizens to migrate. Experience demonstrates that a purely security-based approach will remain ineffective for as long as the reasons for departure continue to exist.

We also propose the establishment of an independent and transparent Algerian-Spanish mechanism for search and rescue and for the exchange of information concerning missing persons, with the participation of victims’ families and civil society and human rights organisations.

This mechanism should publish regular and accurate data on the number of people departing, intercepted boats, rescue operations, drownings and disappearances. Such information is essential if the phenomenon is to be studied on a sound and evidence-based basis and more effective and humane policies are to be developed.

We further recommend expanding legal, safe and orderly pathways for study, employment, mobility and family reunification. Closing all legal routes does not stop migration. It merely pushes more people into the hands of smuggling networks and onto increasingly dangerous boats.

The protection of Europe’s borders cannot be separated from the protection of human rights. Any sustainable and effective cooperation with Algeria must take account of the state of freedoms, support independent civil society and contribute to creating genuine opportunities for Algerian youth within their own country.

The boats cannot be stopped while the conditions driving Algerians to board them remain in place. Nor can Europe build an effective migration policy by negotiating only over the return of those who have fled, while ignoring the policies that forced them to flee in the first place.

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces affirms that the Algerian migrant is not a number in border statistics and not a bargaining chip in disputes between governments. They are citizens with dignity and rights. Addressing this phenomenon begins with protecting lives at sea, but it must necessarily extend to defending freedoms, reopening civic and trade union space, and restoring hope to Algerians within their own country.

Video on the Circulating Reports of 4,000 Algerian Migrants Arriving in Spain

Disclaimer: We are publishing this video to present the report currently being circulated and to identify the source of the figure cited. Its inclusion does not mean that the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) endorses or confirms the accuracy of all the information it contains. As explained in the article, the figure has not been independently verified, in the absence of detailed official data.