“Algerians are fleeing their country”: the JDD copied 20 Minutes — after deleting everything that contradicted it
Antoine Delcourt — Paris, France — 2026-10-03
**On 3 October 2026 at 14:29, the Journal du Dimanche published an article signed by Marianne Lecach: “Clandestine immigration: why are so many Algerians fleeing their country?”**
The word is in the headline: “flee”. Not “leave”, not “emigrate”. Flee.
And in its second sentence, the JDD commits the mistake that undoes it. It writes:
> « L'agence européenne des frontières Frontex a enregistré une hausse de fréquentation de 34 % sur un an sur la route migratoire « de la Méditerranée occidentale » qui relie le littoral du Maghreb à l'Espagne, **relaie *20 Minutes***. »
>
> Translation: “The European border agency Frontex recorded a 34% year-on-year rise in traffic on the “Western Mediterranean” migration route linking the Maghreb coast to Spain, reports 20 Minutes.”
**It says so itself: it is copying 20 Minutes.**
So we did the one thing nobody does. We opened both articles and compared them.
What 20 Minutes wrote on 1 October
Here is the 20 Minutes sentence, word for word:
> « Selon les données de Frontex, l'agence européenne des frontières, repérées par Le Monde, la route migratoire dite « de la Méditerranée occidentale », reliant le littoral du Maghreb à l'Espagne, a enregistré une hausse de fréquentation de 34 % sur un an, alors que le nombre total de passagers irréguliers vers l'Europe est en baisse sur les premiers mois de l'année. »
>
> Translation: “According to Frontex data, the European border agency, spotted by Le Monde, the so-called “Western Mediterranean” migration route, linking the Maghreb coast to Spain, recorded a 34% year-on-year rise in traffic, while the total number of irregular passengers heading to Europe is falling over the first months of the year.”
Read the ending closely: “while the total number of irregular passengers heading to Europe is falling”. The total is falling.
And here is the JDD sentence, two days later:
> « L'agence européenne des frontières Frontex a enregistré une hausse de fréquentation de 34 % sur un an sur la route migratoire « de la Méditerranée occidentale » qui relie le littoral du Maghreb à l'Espagne, relaie 20 Minutes. »
>
> Translation: “The European border agency Frontex recorded a 34% year-on-year rise in traffic on the “Western Mediterranean” migration route linking the Maghreb coast to Spain, reports 20 Minutes.”
The end of the sentence has vanished.
The JDD cut exactly the eleven words that said the European total is falling. This is not a rewrite. This is an amputation.
The full list of what was removed
This is not an isolated case. We found six deletions, all pointing the same way.
| What 20 Minutes said | In the JDD |
|---|---|
| “the total number of irregular passengers heading to Europe is falling” | ❌ removed |
| “These figures on clandestine crossings also render legal migration invisible, thanks to visas, which concern a population of graduates, notably in medicine, computer science or engineering” | ❌ removed |
| “In the last legislative elections in Algeria, the turnout stood at less than 22%” | ❌ removed |
| “at least 2,292 people have died or gone missing on the sea routes leading to Europe since the start of 2026” (International Organization for Migration) | ❌ removed |
| The cost of the crossing: “between 2,000 and 5,000 euros” | ❌ removed |
| “The political power is stalled, it has no project for society” (Saïd Belguidoum) | ❌ removed |
And what did the JDD add, in exchange?
The word “flee” in the headline. It is not in 20 Minutes.
A subheading: “A lack of prospects in Algeria”. A cause stated as a fact.
And one sentence that was not there either:
> « Les régimes au pouvoir au Maghreb peuvent être aussi une cause. »
>
> Translation: “The regimes in power in the Maghreb can also be a cause.”
There is the exact tally: the JDD removed six pieces of context and added one accusation.
What Frontex actually says — and what neither of them quotes
There is an official explanation for this 34% rise. It comes from Frontex itself. Here it is:
“The rise reflects a shift in smuggling routes, as tighter controls in Morocco and on the neighbouring West African and central Mediterranean routes have pushed more departures towards the Algerian coast.”
And elsewhere:
“Morocco's strengthened prevention efforts have pushed more people to seek smuggling services in Algeria.”
Let us translate that.
The Algerian route is rising because the others have been closed. Over the same period, the total heading for Europe fell by 35%: Canaries −58%, Italy −55%, Greece −25%.
This is not a people fleeing. It is a route that has been diverted. And it is the European agency that says so.
And now the base — the figure nobody talks about
The JDD writes: “42% of the 5,647 arrivals recorded from January to April 2026”.
42%. That is spectacular. But 42% of what?
[[BAR]]
The JDD figure, put back into its base
!Arrivals in Spain, January-April 2026 | 5,647 | people
Including Algerians (42%) | 2,372 | people
!Population of Algeria | 47,435,312 | inhabitants
!Actual share | 0.0050 | % of the population
[[/BAR]]
Two thousand three hundred and seventy-two people. Over four months. In a country of forty-seven million inhabitants.
One Algerian in twenty thousand.
That is what the JDD calls, in its headline, a country whose inhabitants are “fleeing”.
Over the whole of 2025, the Spanish Interior Ministry counted around 9,500 Algerians who arrived by sea. Set against the population: 0.02%. One in five thousand.
One per cent would be a phenomenon. One fiftieth of one per cent is a news item on the scale of a country.
Why this is not merely an error
We must say what is true, because that is our rule.
Youth unemployment in Algeria stood at 29.4% in 2025 — an IMF figure, and the JDD is right to cite it. Growth is 3.8%. Irregular migration exists, and it kills — 2,292 dead or missing in 2026, according to the International Organization for Migration — and 20 Minutes was right to report it.
The problem is not the subject. The problem is the sorting.
The JDD kept everything that accuses and removed everything that qualifies. The result is called “Algerians are fleeing their country”. The raw material said: “one route is up 34% while the European total is falling”.
These are not two different articles. It is the same article with the brakes cut.
And it is not an isolated voice
The same story, the same figures, the same period:
- Le Monde — the source of the Frontex data
- Le Figaro — analysis of 25 June 2026
- Hespress (Moroccan) — 29 June 2026: “departures from Algeria are exploding”
- Le360 (Moroccan) — 30 September 2026: “Algeria asserts itself as the leading exporter of harragas to Europe”
- The JDD — 3 October 2026
Five headlines, two countries, one single line. This is no longer media coverage. This is a campaign.
The cherry on the cake
You have to read the JDD to the end, because the JDD contradicts itself.
On the same page, a sidebar announces: “Algeria slaps an embargo on almost all French products”. And here is what it specifies, in black and white:
> « Depuis fin juillet, les importateurs algériens auraient reçu pour consigne d'écarter les produits français de leurs commandes. Une mesure non officialisée par Alger, mais dont les effets se font déjà sentir. »
>
> Translation: “Since the end of July, Algerian importers are said to have received instructions to exclude French products from their orders. A measure not officially confirmed by Algiers, but whose effects are already being felt.”
« Une mesure non officialisée par Alger » — “a measure not officially confirmed by Algiers”.
So the JDD writes, on the same day and on the same page, two irreconcilable things: that an embargo can be asserted to exist even though no text makes it official — and that a people can be said to be fleeing its country on the basis of six per cent of one per cent of its population.
It is exactly the same method. Take a rumour or a minuscule figure, present it as self-evident, and hope that nobody goes to check.
We went to check. Here is the result.