WHY YOU NEED TO PRAY FOR ALGERIA

Albania, a beautiful country nestled in the heart of the Balkans, is currently facing a myriad of critical struggles that deeply affect its people and demand our heartfelt prayers.

1. Problems in the Political System:

   Algeria's political system traces its roots back to the populist regime established after gaining independence from France in 1962. The National Liberation Front (FLN), led by the figurehead of the Algerian Revolution, created a socialist revolutionary state. However, the current state of Algeria differs greatly from its earlier incarnation, reflecting the changes that have occurred over the past 25 years.

   The political landscape took a significant turn when a military coup thwarted the results of a parliamentary election in the early 1990s. This election could have resulted in the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) uprooting the FLN and its secular state. The preceding local elections in 1990 had already indicated FIS's growing influence, as they won the majority of municipalities nationwide. Unfortunately, the democratic transition was aborted, plunging the country into a brutal civil war that lasted until 1998. The outcome of the conflict entrenched a military secular elite in power, further consolidating their rule over the state.

   
2. Sluggish Economic Performance:

   An Apathetic Decline Algeria, as a typical rentier state, is now enduring the tribulations suffered by other nations amidst the global slump in energy prices. Moreover, it struggles with a state-controlled economy inherited from the revolutionary period, where the private sector remains starved of the necessary resources for expansion.

   Oil and gas, which constitute around 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 60 percent of budget revenues, and 95 percent of export earnings, have seen a sharp decline. Between 2011 and 2015, the country's nominal GDP plummeted from $200 billion to $165 billion. By 2016, it further declined to $156 billion.

   With a population of 40.6 million, Algeria wrestles with an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent. However, the real cause for concern lies in the fact that nearly half of the population is under 30, and approximately one-third of them face unemployment. Additionally, with an inflation rate of 5.9 percent, Algeria's current account balance for 2016 was -$26.31 billion, a deficit likely to worsen if energy prices fail to recover soon.

   Algeria's economic growth in 2016 was only evident in the hydrocarbon sector, which showed a marginal improvement of 3.6 percent compared to 2015. Conversely, non-hydrocarbon growth, encompassing agriculture, services, and industries, dipped from 5 percent to 3.9 percent. The government has managed to improve the macroeconomic outlook by implementing austerity policies and increasing taxation, measures that disproportionately burden the poor.

   
3. Emerging Conservatism and the Struggle for Identity:

   Algeria finds itself entangled in a familiar struggle faced by many MENA countries, as old secularist policies clash with the rising tide of religious fervor. Reports from Algeria indicate a latent resurgence of Islamic conservatism, which encroaches upon the domain of secularism. This revival can be seen as an extension of the wave that swept across the region in the 1980s, driven not only by the failures of Algeria's secular nationalists but also by those of other Middle Eastern secular regimes. The rise of Islamists in the Algerian provincial and parliamentary elections in 1990 and 1991 was a direct consequence of the retreat of secular regimes, as witnessed in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and other nations.

   When coupled with the prevailing political stagnation and sluggish economic growth, this regression towards traditional religious values sets the stage for a potentially tumultuous clash between secular state institutions and significant segments of society. Algeria might draw comparisons with Turkey, which grapples with the wrenching struggle between its secularist tradition and the continued dominance of the Islamist Justice and Development Party. However, any such comparison falls short due to the stark contrast in political and social institutionalization, which has allowed Turkey's elite to navigate a path towards moderate religious coexistence.

   
4. Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees:

   Algerian authorities continued collective expulsions to Niger and Mali of thousands of migrants, including hundreds of children, often without individual screenings or due process. Migrants reported cases of violence, theft of their belongings, arbitrary detention, detention of children with adults, poor treatment in detention, and other mistreatment by Algerian authorities during arrests, detention, and expulsions to land borders. Between January and July, Algerian authorities expelled 13,602 people to Niger, including 8,858 Nigeriens, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR); as of October, Alarm Phone Sahara in Niger reported that over 18,000 people had been expelled.

   Authorities forcibly repatriated most Nigeriens in truck convoys per a 2014 bilateral oral agreement, while they left others of over 20 nationalities, mostly Sub-Saharan Africans, in the desert at the Niger border. Those expelled included at least 51 asylum seekers or other "persons of concern" to UNHCR, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement under international refugee law.

   Though a party to the African and UN refugee conventions, Algeria continued to lack a national asylum law and protection framework. Refugees and asylum seekers had free access to public education and primary healthcare, but administrative barriers hindered their access to school and work. According to UNHCR, the government said it would include refugees in its national Covid-19 vaccination plan, and vaccinations for Sahrawi refugees began in May 2021.

   
5. Women’s Rights:

   Article 326 of the penal code, a colonial-era relic, allows a person who abducts a minor to escape prosecution if he marries his victim.

   Algeria's Family Code allows men to have a unilateral divorce without explanation but requires women to apply to courts for a divorce on specified grounds.

   Feminicides Algerie reported that some 38 women and girls were killed in 2021, including 33 reported to have been killed by their husbands, former husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, or another family member. Although a 2015 law made assault on a spouse punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a life sentence for injuries resulting in death, the law does not set out any further measures to prevent abuse or adequately protect survivors, such as protection orders.

   The penal code does not explicitly criminalize corporal punishment of children; surveys have found that more than 85 percent experience violent discipline in the home.

   
6. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity:

   In Algeria, the expression of same-sex relationships is met with severe punishment, as stipulated by article 338 of the penal code, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to two years. Furthermore, article 339 of the same code condemns adultery with imprisonment ranging from one to two years. These laws not only criminalize same-sex relations but also create a hostile environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

   The suppression of freedom of association compounds the challenges faced by LGBT groups in Algeria. These groups encounter significant obstacles in their work due to restrictions imposed on their ability to gather and advocate for their rights. The Algerian law, which prohibits the registration of organizations deemed inconsistent with "public morals," adds to the vulnerability of LGBT communities. Members of unregistered organizations face the risk of criminal penalties, further marginalizing and endangering both LGBT groups and the human rights organizations that aim to support them.