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RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAS #1326/01 2610657
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180657Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4464
INFO RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 1933
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3059
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 6783
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001326 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958 AS AMENDED: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON SOCI KFRD ASEC CVIS AG
SUBJECT: HOPEFUL WESTERN ALGERIA LOOKS TO THE U.S. 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The northwestern Algerian town of Sig and the 
neighboring city of Mascara are well established migrant-sending 
communities that produce a disproportionately large number of visa 
applicants.  A strong migration relationship with immigrant 
communities in the U.S., combined with the lack of economic 
opportunities at home, has pushed many residents of the region to 
try their luck in the United States.  In addition to migration, many 
Algerians from the area seek more contact with the U.S. and look to 
it as an attractive alternative to traditional partnerships with 
France and Spain.  End Summary. 
 
Sig: Producer of Olives and Visa Applicants 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Conoff traveled to Sig in early September and met with 
government officials, traders and small business owners.  Sig, with 
a population of about 75,000, is the principal town in an 
administrative department (daira) comprised of about 120,000 
inhabitants.  Located 50 km south of Algeria's second city, Oran, 
Sig sits in a fertile agricultural region that produces olives, 
grapes and cereals.  Although Sig was not exempt from the violence 
that tore Algeria apart during the 1990s, the daira has not 
experienced any terrorism-related violence for many years.  The 
primary economic activity in Sig is the cultivation and processing 
of olives.  The Egyptian company Orascom also operates a cement 
plant on the outskirts of Sig that employs about 2000 local workers. 
 
 
¶3.  According to the daira chief and the mayor of Sig, the biggest 
impediments to economic development in the region are a lack of 
skills and technical know-how, and poor access to external markets 
for the region's agricultural products.  In their view, Sig's 
outwardly looking citizens crave interaction and exchange with 
foreign investors. 
 
¶4.  Small business owners and olive traders validated their leaders' 
sentiments concerning the desire for increased contact with the 
United States, and were particularly interested in marketing their 
agricultural products, especially their olives.  Many individuals 
also showed interest in cultural exchanges with the U.S. and sought 
information about educational opportunities there.  (Note: Post 
processes a relatively small number of student and exchange visitor 
visas and practically none of the applicants are from Sig.  End 
note.) 
 
Sig Has a Sister in Jersey City 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The migration relationship between Sig and the United States is 
largely the result of a significant community of former Sig 
residents in northern New Jersey.  Jersey City, New Jersey has a 
sister-city relationship with Sig.  According to several current 
residents of Sig, the first wave of migration from Sig to the U.S. 
occurred in the late 1980s. Further migration took place via the 
Diversity Visa process in the 1990s.  Though the residents of Sig 
continue to apply for DVs, the education requirement eliminates a 
considerable percentage of applicants, and many mostly young 
residents of Sig apply instead for nonimmigrant visas. 
 
¶6.  Despite this well established migration network, remittances 
from Algerian immigrants (both legal and undocumented migrants) 
inject only a modest amount of money into the region.  Moreover, 
there is no evidence that these remittances are used for productive 
investment.  The mayor of Sig stated that remittances are used 
primarily to construct or remodel homes, and to purchase consumer 
goods such as automobiles. 
 
¶7.  The residents of Sig view the United States as a more attractive 
country for immigration than the traditional destinations of France 
and Spain.  The existence of a well developed migration network with 
the U.S. alone does not explain this phenomenon, since such networks 
also exist with the much larger Algerian diasporas in France and 
Spain.  However, the perception that there are greater employment 
opportunities in the United States, and the belief that the U.S. is 
more welcoming to immigrants (both legal and undocumented), has 
influenced many residents of Sig to migrate to America rather than 
Europe. 
 
¶8.  About eight percent of post's nonimmigrant visa applicants come 
from Sig.  Considering the total population of Algeria and the 
relatively small number of inhabitants of Sig, this is an unusually 
high percentage of the total applicant pool.  Over the past 12 
months the nonimmigrant visa refusal rate for all applicants in 
Algeria was 27 percent.  The refusal rate for applicants from Sig, 
in contrast, was 75 percent. 
 
COMMENT: Increased U.S. Presence in Western Algeria? 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶9.  Based on conversations with a wide variety of contacts from 
 
ALGIERS 00001326  002 OF 002 
 
 
different socioeconomic levels in both the daira of Sig and in the 
city of Oran, it appears that many Algerians in the northwest of the 
country believe U.S. influence is confined to Algiers.  There is an 
acute perception that U.S. government programs and interests in 
Algeria are largely limited to Algiers, with the exception of U.S. 
investment in the petroleum industry in the Sahara.  Several 
residents shared fond memories of the American Consulate General in 
Oran (which closed in the mid-1990s) and asked about the possibility 
of reopening the post.  Opening a cultural center or an American 
corner in Oran would serve as a first step toward reengagement in a 
region of Algeria in which the people genuinely desire stronger ties 
with the U.S. 
 
FORD