Algeria holds, deports thousands of migrants-paper

ALGIERS, May 13 (Reuters) Algerian authorities arrested 35,000 illegal migrants from 55 African and Arab countries over the past six years and deported 32,000, a newspaper reported today.

The independent newspaper El Khabar, citing police, did not indicate whether the arrests and deportations involved the same people but Algerian journalists said it was almost certainly the case. Police were not available to comment.

Most of those arrested or sent home were from Africa's Sahel region with 11,000 from Niger, 7,000 Malians and 1,616 Nigerians, the daily said. Other migrants came from nearby countries including 2,500 Moroccans, 543 Tunisians, 100 Libyans and 60 Mauritanians.

The total also included migrants from the Middle East and Asia with 1,600 Syrians, 150 Indians and 31 Egyptians.

The government spent some 30 million dinars (0,000) on their repatriation and on medical treatment and food during their detention, the newspaper said.

Europe has urged North African countries to do more to stop the flow of illegal migrants trying to reach Europe via Italy and Spain, the two countries most migrants see as their preferred entry point to the continent.

Migrants who reach Algeria try to buy a place in small boats going to Spain or Italy.

More than 31,000 illegal immigrants reached Spain's Canary Islands last year, six times more than in 2005, and many others made their way to Italy and Malta. Many died on the journey.

The EU has said it expects new flows of illegal migrants this year when the weather improves.

REUTERS MP PM2210