Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview

Sources indicate that Kabylia is a region in Algeria where the majority of the population speaks Kabyle [Taqbaylit; Taqbailith] (Founding Director 19 Jan. 2021) or is inhabited by the Kabyle people, one of the Amazigh [Berber] groups indigenous to North Africa (UNPO July 2017, 1). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Founding Director of the Centre d'études maghrébines en Algérie (CEMA), an Algeria-based overseas research centre of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) [1], stated that Tizi Ouzou and Bejaïa, the wilaya [wilayah] (governorates [or provinces]) with an "absolute majority" of Kabylophones are considered "'Kabylia proper'" (Found Director 19 Jan. 2021). The same source adds that parts of the neighbouring wilayas of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdès, Bouira, Jijel and Sétif, with a mixed population of Kabylophones and Arabophones, are also considered part of Kabylia (Founding Director 19 Jan. 2021). A 2003 report by International Crisis Group similarly describes Tizi Ouzou and Bejaïa as the "heartland of Kabylia" but adds that some districts in Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdès, Bouira and Sétif are also considered a part of the region (International Crisis Group 10 June 2003, 1).

2. Presence of Police Forces and Gendarmes in Kabylia

Sources indicate that the Ministry of Interior's Directorate General for National Security (Direction générale de la sûreté nationale, DGSN) is the police force [responsible for urban areas (US 9 June 2020)], while the Ministry of National Defence's National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale) provides police services in rural areas (Professor 13 Jan. 2021; US 9 June 2020).

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Amazigh World Congress (Congrès mondial amazigh, CMA), an international NGO working to protect the rights of Amazigh people (CMA n.d.), stated that the gendarmes are [translation] "very present" and "very aggressive" in Kabylia, compared to other parts of Algeria (CMA 19 Jan. 2021). Without providing further details, the CMA representative added that the military and gendarmes [translation] "closely monitor" the Kabyle people and patrol the villages, roads, fields, and forests "night and day" (CMA 19 Jan. 2021). According to the CEMA Founding Director,

[i]n general, police are recruited locally (though Algiers has police from all over the country, which explains the more tense relationship), whereas the gendarmerie is a nationally constituted force. Citizen relations with police are generally better than with the gendarmerie, precisely for this reason. (Founding Director 19 Jan. 2021)

Without providing further explanation, the website of the National Gendarmerie reports that the national rate of "security coverage" by the National Gendarmerie was 87.80 percent in 2019 (Algeria [2019]).

Based on a press conference held by a police inspector, media sources report that the [translation] "rate of security coverage" of the Tizi Ouzou wilaya by the police was 96 percent in 2018 (Le Courrier d'Algérie 17 Mar. 2018; Reporters 17 Mar. 2018), and that there was one police officer for every 323 residents (Reporters 17 Mar. 2018) or 300 residents (Le Courrier d'Algérie 17 Mar. 2018). The same sources indicate that as of 2018 only the Béni-Yenni daïra [district] did not have a police station (Le Courrier d'Algérie 17 Mar. 2018; Reporters 17 Mar. 2018), out of 21 daïras in the Tizi Ouzou wilaya (Le Courrier d'Algérie 17 Mar. 2018). Based on a press conference held by representatives of the National Gendarmerie, Le Courrier d'Algérie, an Algeria-based daily newspaper, states that the [translation] "security coverage" outside of the cities was 46 percent in 2019 (Le Courrier d'Algérie 19 Feb. 2020).

Based on a press conference held by the head of the National Gendarmerie in Bejaïa, Algérie360, an Algeria-based online news publication (Algérie360 n.d.), reports that the National Gendarmerie provided [translation] "security coverage" to 53.84 percent of Bejaïa with 28 units in 2018 (Algérie360 29 Jan. 2019).

3. Use of Road Checks

The Founding Director stated that road checks and barricades are "ubiquitous" across Algeria and are not exclusive to Kabylia (Founding Director 19 Jan. 2021). The same source added that the DGSN is responsible for road checks in the cities, while the National Gendarmerie is responsible for those in the countryside and on national highways (Founding Director 19 Jan. 2021). Other sources similarly indicate that [police and military (US 9 June 2020, 3)] checkpoints are located on main roads in large cities (US 9 June 2020, 3; Canada 7 Jan. 2021) and throughout the countryside (US 9 June 2020, 8). The US Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) states that law enforcement officers "routinely" perform security checks on vehicles and that the number of checkpoints and police "often" increases in times of "heightened security" (US 9 June 2020, 3). Belgium's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation notes that Algerian authorities can limit or block vehicle travel for security reasons [translation] "at any time and without notice" (Belgium 10 Nov. 2020).

Sources report that in response to planned demonstrations [by Hirak (movement) protestors [2] (International Crisis Group 26 Apr. 2019, 2)] in 2019, the National Gendarmerie were deployed to roads leading into Algiers to prevent demonstrators from neighbouring wilayas from reaching the capital (International Crisis Group 26 Apr. 2019, 2; El Watan 13 Apr. 2019), including from Tizi Ouzou, Bejaïa, and Bouira (International Crisis Group 26 Apr. 2019, 2). Sources indicate that Hirak demonstrations were being held every Tuesday and Friday from February 2019 onward (Le Point Afrique 23 Aug. 2019; International Crisis Group 27 July 2020, 2). Sources from 2019 add that checkpoints were set up at entrances to Algiers every Friday (HRW 9 Sept. 2019; Le Point Afrique 23 Aug. 2019). A December 2019 article by El Watan, an Algeria-based French-language newspaper (AFP 29 Nov. 2017), reports that beginning in the first months of the Hirak movement [since February 2019], checkpoints were set up on roads leading to Algiers and vehicles registered in other wilayas were required to undergo document checks and vehicle searches when entering Algiers (El Watan 28 Dec. 2019). Based on an interview with a protester travelling from Tizi Ouzou to Algiers for a Friday demonstration in September 2019, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) article similarly indicates that the protester witnessed "'dozens'" of vehicles being stopped at a checkpoint, while the protester's vehicle, which was registered in Algiers, was able to continue on to the capital (AFP 21 Sept. 2019). Sources report that COVID-19 caused the Hirak demonstrations to be suspended (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 19 Jan. 2021; Belgium 10 Nov. 2020).

A September 2019 El Watan article indicates that the Chief of Staff of Algeria's People's National Army (Armée nationale populaire, ANP) directed the National Gendarmerie to set up checkpoints on the East-West Highway (l'autoroute Est-Ouest) [3] in order to control access to Algiers and to block entry to demonstrators from the east [4] (El Watan 19 Sept. 2019). Citing a [translation] "security source," the same article notes that these checkpoints will become permanent (El Watan 19 Sept. 2019). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] According to its website, the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) is a private, non-profit educational organization working to promote research and information-sharing between academics from the US and the Maghrib [Maghreb] region (AIMS n.d.).

[2] International Crisis Group indicates that the Hirak protest movement is a "[l]argely [p]eaceful" citizen-led movement formed in February 2019 that advocates for a "vision of citizenship that seeks to transcend the political, social and regional divisions" of the past and aims to "reclaim public space" from a regime that has banned protests (International Crisis Group 27 July 2020, 2).

[3] According to a Logistics Capacity Assessment (LCA) conducted by World Food Programme staff with other partners to analyze of Algeria's logistical capacity for humanitarian purposes (Global Logistic Cluster n.d.), the country's East-West Highway runs between Morocco and Tunisia and connects "Algeria's major coastal cities"; as of March 2020, it is "near completion" with the exception of a 150-kilometer stretch between Constantine and Skikda (Global Logistics Cluster 30 Mar. 2020).

[4] Kabylia is located east of Algiers.

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 21 September 2019. "Thousands of Protesters in Algiers Despite Heavy Police Deployment." [Accessed 14 Jan. 2021]

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 29 November 2017. "Algeria's Independent Press Fears for Its Survival." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

Algeria. [2019]. Ministère de la Défense nationale, Gendarmerie nationale. "Judicial Police." [Accessed 12 Jan. 2021]

Algérie360. 29 January 2019. Zoheir Siouane. "Bilan de la gendarmerie nationale de Béjaïa : la criminalité en baisse." [Accessed 11 Jan. 2021]

Algérie360. N.d. "Nous contacter." [Accessed 11 Jan. 2021]

The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS). N.d. "AIMS History." [Accessed 19 Jan. 2021]

Belgium. 10 November 2020. Affaires étrangères, commerce extérieur et coopération au développement. "Algérie." [Accessed 27 Jan. 2021]

Canada. 7 January 2021. "Algeria." [Accessed 14 Jan. 2021]

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 19 January 2021. Ilhem Rachidi. "Algeria's Hirak: Defenders of Freedom of Expression." [Accessed 27 Jan. 2021]

Congrès mondial amazigh (CMA). 19 January 2021. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

Congrès mondial amazigh (CMA). N.d. "Le Congrès mondial amazigh en bref." [Accessed 19 Jan. 2021]

Le Courrier d'Algérie. 19 February 2020. "Saisis par les autorités durant la décennie noire à Tizi Ouzou : plus de 80 fusils de chasse non encore récupérés par les propriétaires." [Accessed 11 Jan. 2021]

Le Courrier d'Algérie. 17 March 2018. "Tizi Ouzou : La préoccupation du citoyen en matière de sécurité sera satisfaite." [Accessed 11 Jan. 2021]

El Watan. 28 December 2019. Mokrane Ait Ouarabi. "Dispositif sécuritaire et barrages filtrants à l'entrée de la capitale." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

El Watan. 19 September 2019. Amar Fedjkhi. "Un dispositif déjà en place sur l'autoroute est-ouest." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

El Watan. 13 April 2019. Abdelghani Aichoun. "Plusieurs barrages installés aux entrées Est et Ouest d'Alger : l'accès à la capitale filtré." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

Founding Director, Centre d'études maghrébines en Algérie (CEMA). 19 January 2021. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Global Logistics Cluster. March 2020. Khir Eddine Medjani. "Algeria Road Network Assessment." [Accessed 25 Jan. 2021]

Global Logistics Cluster. N.d. "Logistics Capacity Assessments (LCAs)." [Accessed 25 Jan. 2021]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 9 September 2019. "Algeria: Tightening the Screws on Protests." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

International Crisis Group. 27 July 2020. Algeria: Easing the Lockdown for the Hirak? Middle East and North Africa Report No. 217. [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

International Crisis Group. 26 April 2019. Post-Bouteflika Algeria: Growing Protests, Signs of Repression. Middle East and North Africa Briefing No. 68. [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

International Crisis Group. 10 June 2003. Algeria: Unrest and Impasse in Kabylia. Middle East/North Africa Report No. 15. [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020]

Le Point Afrique. 23 August 2019. Hadjer Guenanfa. "Algérie : le Hirak résiste encore." [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

Professor, Tufts University. 13 January 2021. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Reporters [Algeria]. 17 March 2018. "Tizi Ouzou : le taux de couverture sécuritaire de la police à 96%." [Accessed 11 Jan. 2021]

United States (US). 9 June 2020. Department of State, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC). Algeria 2020 Crime & Safety Report. [Accessed 13 Jan. 2021]

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). July 2017. Member Profile: Kabylia. Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia - Anavad. [Accessed 21 Jan. 2021]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Africa Center for Strategic Studies; Algeria – Ambassade d'Algérie à Ottawa, Consulat géneral d'Algérie à Montréal, Gendarmerie nationale; Algeria Solidarity Campaign; journalist based in Algeria; Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme; Maison des droits de l'homme et du citoyen Tizi Ouzou; Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center; PhD candidate at a US-based university who conducts research on security issues in North and West Africa.

Internet sites, including: Algeria – Ministère des Finances; Algérie presse service; Amnesty International; Belgium – Commissariat général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides; Bertelsmann Stiftung; Council on Foreign Relations; La Dépȇche de Kabylie; ecoi.net; El Djeich; L'Expression; Factiva; France – Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides; Kabyle.com; Liberté; Maison des droits de l'homme et du citoyen Tizi Ouzou; Middle East Eye; Le Monde; Observ'Algérie; Observatory of Sahara for Peace, Democracy and Human Rights; Siwel; Le Soir d'Algérie; Swiss Refugee Council; TAMURT; Tizi Ouzou – official website; UK – Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Home Office; UN – Refworld; Voice of America.