Alarme Phone Sahara struggling to assist people deported from Libya to Niger under ruthless conditions
People deported from Libya on a deportation convoy arrive in Latai, Niger
©Alarme Phone Sahara
Between 28 March and 25 April 2025, 783 Niger nationals, most of them women and minors, arrived in the desert towns of Madama, Latai and Siguidine after being deported from Libya. Most of the people concerned had previously been held in detention centres in Libya. According to Alarme Phone whistleblowers, at least one person died on the deportation convoy that arrived in Niger on 25th of April.
Since 28 March 2025, according to observations by Alarme Phone Sahara whistleblowers, 783 migrants have returned to Niger from Libya: sometimes violently by Libyan security forces, sometimes autonomously. However, given the threatening situation in Libya, it is doubtful whether these decisions to return were truly voluntary (See also: https://www.refugeesinlibya.org).
They are being pushed by Libyan security forces from the area controlled by General Haftar's militias towards southern Libya, and even as far as northern Niger. To do this, the people concerned are either arrested in public raids and placed directly on lorries to be deported southwards. Or they are taken to detention centres from where they are then deported. It is not uncommon for migrants to be forced to pay for petrol for the deportation vehicle.
According to Alarme Phone Sahara whistleblowers, these lorries arrive in the Niger border region of Kaouar in Latai and Siguidine. At the beginning of January alone, 613 people were deported from Libya to the Niger border region.
(https://alarmephonesahara.info/en/blog/posts/613-people-deported-from-libya-to-niger).
Arrival of deported people in the desert of Niger - practical solidarity on the ground
Latai is a crossroads where people arrive and continue their journey. The deportees arrive empty-handed, often injured, thirsty and hungry. They depend on the support of the local population, who help them with dates or other food donations, and sometimes let them sleep on their farms, even though they themselves have little money or food to spare. It is not uncommon for deportees to sleep inside the desert village and try to make ends meet by working as day labourers.
People deported from Libya on deportation convoy trucks arrive in Niger ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Some of the people concerned are loaded onto large lorries organised by the Libyan army and driven by Nigerien drivers. They pass through the Niger towns of Latai and Siguidine, in the desert, before continuing on to Agadez.
Alarme Phone Sahara's whistleblowers suspect that such transports to Agadez are organised by Libyan forces in order to make it more difficult for migrants to return to the North African country. Some of those deported remain in the Kaouar region and look for work in Siguidine, Bilma or Dirkou in order to raise enough money to return to Libya.
However, it is currently very difficult to enter Libya. Travellers report strict controls at the Niger-Libya border in both directions. One of the consequences of the rigorous controls in the direction of Niger is that non-Nigerien citizens are deported in small vehicles in order to bypass the border posts. Indeed, to date, the State of Niger has been opposed to accepting non-Nigerien nationals deported from Libya and sending them back to Libya. We can therefore assume that many more people are being deported clandestinely.
Alarme Phone Sahara assisting people deported from Libya by distributing dates. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Alarme Phone Sahara whistleblowers provide dates and water to people arriving in the desert towns of Latai and Siguidine. If necessary, they also accompany injured or sick people to local clinics in the nearby town of Dirkou. But this support is not enough. People are struggling to survive on the streets in precarious conditions. Many wait outside the gates of the IOM centre in Dirkou, which has been overcrowded for months and in fact promises so-called voluntary return to their countries of origin.
Alarm Phone Sahara demands an end to all deportations from Libya and an end to anti-migration deals between European states and armed forces in Libya!
Chronicle of events in the Kaouar region 28.03 - 25.04.2025 according to Alarme Phone Sahara sources:
28.03.25
Doctors Without Borders found 16 people in the Sahara near Siguidine, including a woman and her daughter, who had died of thirst. Their nationality is unknown. Nine other people are still missing. They got lost in the desert.
04.04. - 06.04.25
62 migrants from Niger, Zinder and Magaria regions of origin, arrive in Latai.
07.04.25
47 migrants from Niger arrive in Latai from Libya, APS distributes dates.
08.04.25
69 Niger migrants arrive in Siguidine from Libya, APS distributes dates to them.
09.04.25
The Libyan Bureau for Combating Illegal Immigration (abbreviated to DCIM) deports 79 migrants of Nigerien nationality from the al-Qatrun detention camp via the land border crossing at Al-Toum.
Between Latai and Siguidine, there was an accident with a lorry carrying 17 people from Libya. The passengers included five Nigerians and twelve Nigeriens (five women, two girls and five men). The Red Cross, the local civil defence and the APS provided assistance. Seven injured people were taken to Dirkou hospital with the support of APS and MSF.
15.04.25
62 migrants arrive in Latai from Libya, including 7 Nigerians (including 3 women) and 52 Nigerien men.
18.04.25
24 Nigerien deportees arrive at Latai from Libya.
25.04.25
That day, a convoy of three vehicles arrived in Madama. On board, 407 people were deported: Most of them were Nigeriens, with the exception of 10 Burkinabe and 7 Nigerians. One person died during the deportation. As one of the three vehicles broke down, the people are still stranded in the Nigerien town of Madama, located in the desert on the border. There is no camp or sufficient humanitarian aid on site.