It is “an unprecedented situation” according to the French NGO Médecins sans frontières (MSF) which denounced in a statement on March 16 « l’abandon » thousands of migrants expelled by Algeria present in Assamaka, a town in the Agadez region in northern Niger.
And, in parallel, on the long-simmering rivalries and hatreds bubbling in the cultural pot of the leaders of the military junta with regard to their neighbors, these are, “Thousands of migrants expelled from Algeria and abandoned in the desert (in the north) of Niger are stranded, without access to shelter, health care, protection and basic necessities”says the NGO in its document.
Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, bordered by Libya and Algeria to the north, Benin and Nigeria to the south, Burkina Faso to the southeast, Mali to the west and Chad to the east. It is located along the border between the Saharan and Sub-Saharan regions, and 4/5ths of its territory is arid deserts.
The fact that this country does not really control its border with Algeria means, de facto, for Niger, a continuous flow of repressed migrants. Indeed, each year Algeria does not hesitate to “deposit” in the middle of the Sahara desert in a place called “Point-Zero” which marks the border between the two countries and regardless of their nationality thousands of expelled sub-Saharan Africans.
The latter, propelled we know where in a no man’s land, then find themselves at least ten hours walk from the first transit camp, Assamaka on the Assamaka – Arlit – Agadez axis which, moreover, are all overwhelmed by successive waves of repressions.
Niger is also a transit country for illegal migration and there are nearly 25 nationalities (Mali, Guinea, Burkina, Senegal, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra-Leon, etc.), the search for Eldorado, which pass through its territory on the way, towards the North and the Maghreb considered as the last African stage before the Old Continent.
“Between January 11 and March 3, 2023, 4,677 people in a migration situation arrived on foot in Assamaka,” says MSF, adding that “less than 15% of them were able to benefit from shelter or protection upon their arrival”. The Integrated Health Center (CSI) in Assamaka, where MSF “distributes non-food items” and offers “free consultations” of health, is “overwhelmed”.
MSF indicates that in the camp in Assamaka the heat “ can “reach 48°C”and people sleep in “makeshift tents”, “in front of the maternity ward, on the roof or in the waste area and the like unhygienic, exposed places to health risks such as contagious diseases and skin infections. MSF calls on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)) pour an emergency humanitarian response.
In June 2022, MSF estimated that more than 14,000 people had suffered the same fate since the beginning of the year 15 km from Assamaka, and 27,208 in 2021. In June, the organization Médecins sans frontières (MSF) denounced “inhuman treatment” inflicted on West African migrants seeking to reach Europe and whose « environ 2 000 » are “on average monthly” deported from Algeria and Libya to neighboring Niger. MSF has identified 23,171 migrants deported in 2020.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) present in Niger, which is trying to provide them with assistance “Migrants who wish to join our assisted voluntary return program can be admitted to our transit center in Assamaka”, assured the organization. For the IOM for several weeks, the repatriation of migrants expelled from Algeria to Niger has been done in dribs and drabs and the transit camps are thus overwhelmed. It is the obstacle course for migrants who, between geopolitical upheavals, consular complications, and logistical difficulties, must also endure long waits because the flow of newcomers expelled from Algeria continues to grow.
The daily case processing capacity for the IOM is around 100. Barely has it had time to process a thousand in ten days and to repatriate the migrants than Algeria sends others back, often in much higher numbers. Suddenly the IOM finds itself drowned in a thousand files at least, hence a real problem of blocking and delay.
According to the United Nations, Algeria has expelled tens of thousands of irregular migrants from West and Central Africa since 2014. The country is considered by sub-Saharan migrants as a relatively wealthy country and a transit point to Europe. Some of these migrants try to survive in Algeria, often by begging, or by working in construction or in the informal sector. Algeria thus becomes a country of destination. Unfortunately for them, the military regime in Algiers, which claims to advocate friendship between peoples, never recognizes these expulsions. Algiers, moreover, has no legislation on asylum.