ALGIERS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Algeria said on Monday that it will not repatriate the African refugees fleeing to Algeria, APS news agency reported.
"Algeria considers displaced people and refugees, whose home countries are in difficult situation, as its guests," Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui was quoted as saying.
"Those refugees need health, psychological and social care, either individually or collectively," he added.
According to Bedoui, the authorities are closely following the plight of the refugees, especially children and women.
"We are drawing up a national index to accurately count their numbers and situation," the minister said.
Bedoui also said the government is considering providing jobs for the refugees, especially in construction.
Algeria hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees who were forced to flee war in their home countries. The majority of the refugees come from Niger, Chad, Mali, Syria and Libya.
