Algerian coastguard saves 49 migrants from drowning
Source: Reuters
ALGIERS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Algerian coastguards saved 49 migrants from perishing in cold Mediterranean waters after they set out for Spain aboard boats unfit for the purpose, government newspaper El Moudjahid reported on Tuesday. The migrants, all Algerians aged between 20 to 55, were arrested and jailed after being picked up off the coast near Mostaganem, 300 kilometres (186 miles) west of the capital Algiers, the paper said. Growing numbers of illegal migrants have set off from Algeria this year, braving perilous seas for the chance of a job and a new life in Europe. In the first 10 months of 2006, 42 bodies have been found and 27 people are still missing, according to an official statement released on Monday. It said 388 migrants, including Algerians and Moroccans, have been saved from death off the western shores of Algeria. The North African country, emerging from more than a decade of civil conflict, has launched a five-year plan worth $80 billion to restore hope among its 33 million inhabitants and put the economy back on track. Algeria's oil and gas-reliant economy offers too few jobs to the population, of which 70 percent is under 30. According to official figures, the national unemployment rate is estimated at 15 percent but among people under 30 it was 75 percent in 2005, up from 73 percent a year earlier. This weekend, Algerian newspapers printed a message written by a young man to his parents before he drowned trying to reach Spain. "Forgive me, but I have no choice but to leave the country."
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