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TUNIS: Viral TikTok videos showing seven Algerians teenagers arriving by boat in Spain have sparked debate over rising youth migration in a country where half the population is estimated to be under 30.
The clips, originating in early September, show the teens cutting across the sea in a small recreational boat, with one video drawing 3.4 million views.
Another shows one of the boys, the youngest of whom was said to be just 14, patting the motor as a self-appointed captain shouted: “Spain!“
Many in Algeria have blamed their parents for allowing the trip, while others see an example of an issue long fueled by a lack of opportunities in the country and endemic corruption.
One of the teens, identifying himself on TikTok as “Ouais Belkif,” later went live on the app to field questions from viewers about their voyage.
He recommended using a maritime navigation app called Navionics Boating, saying it could be used offline once the charts were downloaded. “It works both on iPhone and Android,” he said.
He also recounted how they “stole the boat at night and set off” from La Perouse, a town at the eastern edge of the bay of Algiers, and how they stocked gasoline by filling a friend’s moped at a petrol station then secretly syphoning its tank in bottles for the trip.
Stolen boat, or rented? 
“Some wondered what we were up to, but we wouldn’t say anything,” Belkif said.
Yet a Spanish migrant-rescue NGO worker told AFP on condition of anonymity that their plans were not secret.
Their parents had contacted him in advance, he said, in case the teens went missing, adding that the boat theft claims were “a tall tale.”
“The boat was rented out by one of the boys’ father,” he said.
The teens were now at a juvenile center in the custody of Spanish immigration services, the NGO worker said.
None of the parents AFP reached out to agreed to be interviewed. A school teacher who allegedly taught three of the youths also declined to comment.
The youngest of the teens, whom they called “le petit” (the little one), was an aspiring football player on the municipal team, one local told AFP, also on condition of anonymity.
He said that after the boy tried out for Paradou AC — an Algiers club known for its youth academy — but was turned down, he “thought he would have a better chance of playing professionally in Spain.”
Algerian authorities rarely issue statements on irregular migration.
The Defense Ministry’s magazine El Djeich denounced reports as stemming from “malicious media agendas” seeking to “convey a false image of Algeria.”
It called the incident “an isolated act” that did not “reflect the reality of Algerian society,” citing “higher levels of irregular migration” in other countries.
But Europe’s border agency Frontex says irregular crossings on western Mediterranean routes have risen by 22 percent compared to last year, with departures from Algeria accounting for over 90 percent of the 11,791 crossings it detected on those routes this year.
‘Escape and adventure’ 
El Djeich said Algeria had “carried out major projects... for the benefit of ambitious young people who are offered vast future prospects.”
Resource-rich Algeria has Africa’s third-largest economy but many of its 47 million people wish to emigrate, and their motives are not restricted to poverty.
“It’s a mixed phenomenon driven by multiple factors like limited opportunities, political grievances and restricted mobility,” said Ahlam Chemlali, an EU migration researcher at Aalborg University in Copenhagen.
“People feel the changes that were promised never came,” she said.
Yet, “migration can also simply be about autonomy,” Chemlali added. “Younger people just want more of life. They sometimes want thrill, escape and adventure.”
Algerian sociologist Nacer Djabi said another factor was that “younger people now view borders differently.”
As they are “more connected” on social media, “they’re more globalized than older generations,” he said.
Djabi also spoke of political frustrations after Algeria’s quelled 2019 mass protests, saying that youths sought “more social freedoms” in the conservative country.
But he also noted that it was not just young men attempting the crossing, saying “government workers, families and lone girls are doing it, too.”
All seven teenagers were set to resume school this month.