Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011 several thousand Syrians have taken refuge in Algeria. But in recent years a number of them have been trying to make the often perilous sea crossing from the Algerian coast to Europe. Some have been ripped off by unscrupulous traffickers; others have paid the ultimate price and perished at sea. Nejma Brahim reports from the Algerian port of Oran.
His jet black hair and his luxuriant, well-groomed beard contrast with his pale skin. It is an early evening in March 2022 and Samer is sitting in a trendy café in the centre of Oran, recalling the past. The months and years have passed “too quickly”, he says; this 26-year-old from Syria has now lived in the Algerian port city for nearly four years.
