Algeria has expelled more than 16,000 irregular African migrants to Niger since April 2024, exceeding half of its total expulsions for the entire previous year, an Algerian official confirmed on Wednesday. The expulsions, which have drawn criticism from human rights groups, underscore the intensifying pressure on Niger as it grapples with mounting numbers of returnees at its northern border.
Assamaka, a remote border town in northern Niger, has become the main entry point for expelled migrants. According to officials from Arlit prefecture, 1,466 migrants arrived there on June 1 and 2 alone. The first group of 688 migrants, including 239 Nigeriens and individuals from a dozen West African countries, arrived on Sunday. The following day, another 778 Nigeriens, 222 of them minors, arrived crammed into 13 trucks and a van.
May saw a dramatic spike in deportations, with 8,086 migrants expelled 5,287 of them Nigeriens and the rest from other African nations. According to figures from local watchdog Alarm Phone Sahara, these two months alone account for more than half of the 31,000 migrants expelled by Algeria in 2024. The group has decried the often “brutal conditions” surrounding these operations and called for an immediate end to the mass expulsions.
Algeria has long served as a key transit point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe. However, for more than a decade, the country has carried out regular pushbacks to Niger, often without due process or humanitarian safeguards.
In response to the growing crisis, Nigerien authorities have vowed to repatriate 4,000 migrants to their countries of origin by July, in collaboration with the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The initiative aims to prevent what officials fear could become a full-blown humanitarian disaster in the desert region.
Niger’s military-appointed interior minister, General Mohamed Toumba, warned in May that the sudden influx of deportees was threatening the country’s fragile security balance. Adding to the complexity, the Nigerien junta repealed a 2015 anti-trafficking law last November, raising concerns over future migrant protection.
Human rights advocates continue to call for humane and coordinated responses to the migration crisis, emphasizing the urgent need for regional cooperation and respect for migrants’ rights.
