UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001704
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, SOCI, AG
SUBJECT: THE HARRAGA - NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE
1. SUMMARY: Over the past year, the problem of "harraga" --
desperate young Algerians setting out for Spain and Italy on
makeshift boats -- has grown notably worse. The phenomenon
is no longer limited to underprivileged youth, but now
includes older and wealthier individuals otherwise able to
support themselves and their families. The trend indicates a
loss of faith in the political and economic system, which
both has troubling implications for voter participation in
the upcoming November 29 local elections and suggests a
potential for the growing disenchantment to spill into
protests and other more violent forms of behavior. The
government has acknowledged the urgent need for a plan to
engage Algerian youth, and President Bouteflika has tasked
all ministers and governors to come up with an agenda. So
far, the talk has not been matched by concrete action, and
the tide of harraga continues. END SUMMARY.
WHY "HARRAGA"?
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2. Starting in 2004 harraga became a part of the Algerian
cultural landscape, featured in popular song and increasingly
frequent press reports, especially as many of the youth who
set off to reach Europe in their makeshift boats perish at
sea. The term "harraga" -- "one who burns" in Algerian
Arabic dialect -- refers to the common practice of the
would-be emigrants to burn their identification papers before
embarking to impede the police identifying and repatriating
them. A more recent interpretation for the "harraga" name
holds that the desperation has become so great that people
are willing to "burn" their lives in order to escape from
Algeria. One popular harraga motto is "better to be eaten by
the fishes than by the worms at home."
A "SUICIDE MENTALITY" DEVELOPS
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3. Accurate harraga statistics are hard to find, but
anecdotal evidence and press reports reveal a growing
problem. In October, Mohammed Khoudri, minister in charge of
relations with parliament, released some official figures on
the harraga problem. He claimed that between January and
August 2007, 1100 harraga had been arrested, 371 by the
security forces and 918 by the coast guard. Sociologist
Nacer Djabi views the harraga problem as a symptom of a
larger disease -- the emergence of a "suicide attitude" in
the Maghreb, but especially in Algeria. "A harraga or a
kamikaze (suicide bomber)," said Djabi, "both have the same
objective: to get rid of the reality that surrounds them."
A NEW BREED OF HARRAGA
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4. In June 2007 the ocean liner Tarik Ibn Zyad bound for
Marseilles became a rescue ship when the captain came across
22 Algerians stranded at sea. The group was significant
because press reports showed Algerians that the harraga no
longer fit the stereotype of 18- to 20-year-old unemployed
males. Among the June batch of harraga was Djamel, a
38-year-old civil servant, and a 32-year-old woman. When
asked by one of our police contacts why he left the country,
Djamel responded with the question, "Do you have anything
else to offer me?" The story of Fodil Zerga offers another
new vignette. Zerga, a relative of an Embassy employee, is
the son of a successful trader in Oran. Zerga sold his BMW
to buy a small motorboat in order to reach Spain with two
friends. He had applied twice for a visa to enter Spain or
France but was denied both times. Before leaving, Zerga
blurted out to his family that "you can do nothing in this
country, even with your own money!" Zerga and his friends
are now reportedly in the custody of Spanish authorities
after being picked up at sea.
SCRAMBLING FOR A RESPONSE
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5. The government has clearly realized the urgency of the
problem, though it is far less clear that the authorities
have any ready solution. On October 24, President Bouteflika
gave a speech to all cabinet ministers and walis (governors)
in which he warned of the potential consequences of not
addressing the harraga problem. "In these last two years,"
he said, "2400 harraga have been intercepted at sea. These
ALGIERS 00001704 002 OF 002
2400, if added to the kamikazes of Algiers, Lakhdaria, Batna
and Dellys, could become more numerous if we do not seriously
address the issue." (The remarks prompted well-known
cartoonist Ali Dilem to draw "Algerian youth" as a choice
between a kamikaze wearing a suicide belt and a harraga
wearing a life preserver.) Bouteflika said that although 150
billion dinars (2.3 billion dollars) had been dedicated to
the youth and sports sector between 2000 and 2006, each wali
needed to develop a new "youth strategy" for his/her province
of the country.
6. In March, the ministry of religious affairs released a
decree asserting that Islam could not accept among its
members those who took their fate into their own hands.
Cheikh Abu Abdessalem, president of the national commission
on fatwas within the ministry, expounded on radio and
television that a suicide operation committed by a kamikaze
was similar to a harraga expedition since, in the end, both
lives were thrown away.
COMMENT: RICH COUNTRY, POOR PEOPLE
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7. The harraga problem, like the larger problem of providing
opportunity and hope to the youth of Algeria, is only getting
worse. Over 70 percent of Algerians are under the age of 30.
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Benbitour, in a speech on
November 15, outlined the tragic paradox when he asked, "Why
is it that a country as rich as Algeria has nothing to offer
its children?" Benbitour went on to say that he believed the
only way out of the problem was for the regime to change. In
the meantime, as oil prices skyrocket and the political and
economic spheres remain largely stagnant, it appears the
harraga phenomenon is only likely to worsen.
FORD