Gazans flee to Europe, illegally
Palestinians are increasingly seeking to leave the Gaza Strip given the deteriorating living conditions, seeking refuge in Europe.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Along with 122 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip detained in a temporary refugee camp in Tamanrasset province in southern Algeria, Mahmoud awaits the decision of the Algerian government to release them so they can continue their journey to Europe. They had been arrested during the first half of October.
Mahmoud, 23, who did not want to reveal his full name, told Al-Monitor that he reached the border in the desert of southern Algeria with the assistance of smugglers who took him by land from Mauritania through the Malian desert to Algeria, where he arrived Oct. 9. He was planning to travel to the Spanish city of Melilla on Moroccan territories, then by sea to Spain before continuing by land to another European Union country.
He said, “Algerian security forces arrested me along with a group of 20 illegal Palestinians from Gaza, Syrians and Africans, after we reached the border between Mali and Algeria. They confiscated our belongings, including electronic equipment and phones, and they transferred us to a refugee camp in Tamanrasset sheltering more than 120 Palestinians from Gaza, alongside Africans and Syrians. Most of them in the camp were young — not older than 30. There were also families. I hid my phone to contact my family.”
Mahmoud left Gaza Sept. 16 after he had been detained at the headquarters of Hamas’ internal security services in Gaza City, on suspicion of collaborating with Israel and transferring money to bank accounts in Israel. He was released after three months following a confession that he had transferred money from international bank accounts to accounts outside Palestine, where some of his friends later wired him the money to Gaza.
