Niamey, Niger
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
At least 35 migrants have died since January in the Niger desert, a crossing point for the perilous journey to Libya and Algeria in an attempt to reach Europe, announced the NGO Alarme Phone Sahara.
โAccording to our own documentation, from January to August, 35 to 40 migrants died while crossing the desert to Libya and Algeria,โ two countries neighboring Niger, said Aziz Chehou, coordinator of the Nigerien NGO Alarme Phone Sahara (APS), on Saturday.
Thousands of African migrants regularly brave the vast Nigerien desert to reach Libya and Algeria, hoping to then reach the Mediterranean coast and make their way to Europe.
Some die during this perilous journey, abandoned in the desert by their smugglers or after vehicle breakdowns.
โAfter their vehicles break down (in the middle of the desert), passengers who are already hungry or dehydrated become impatient and try to walk long distances in search of a water source that they imagine to be very close,โ explained Mr. Chehou, whose NGO assists migrants in distress.
Others also find themselves stranded in the desert after being turned back from Algeria or Libya.
In 2024, Alarme Phone Sahara recorded 31,000 expulsions by Algiers, a record number.
The government estimated that 16,000 migrants were turned back between January and June this year.
During a recent mission to Agadez, a large city in northern Niger, General Mohamed Toumba, Niger’s Minister of the Interior, denounced โthe forcible return of migrants of various nationalities from Algeria and Libya in inhumane conditions.โ
In order to avoid โa humanitarian disaster,โ Niamey, in collaboration with the UN agency International Organization for Migration (IOM), decided to repatriate thousands of migrants expelled by Algeria and housed in centers in the cities of Agadez and Arlit to their countries of origin.
The government has also repealed a 2015 law criminalizing migrant smuggling, which provided for penalties of up to 30 years in prison.
Since then, โmany people are moving freelyโ on migration โroutesโ โwithout fear of reprisalsโ that they would have faced before, notes Alarme Phone Sahara.
Humaniterre with AFP
