From 15 to 22 December 2023, an Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) mission was held in Assamaka, the village on the Niger-Algeria border where most of the transit traffic between Algeria and Niger takes place, but where the deportation convoys with thousands of people deported from Algeria to Niger also arrive. In 2023, at least 2,631 people were deported from Algeria to Niger via Assamaka - the highest figure in recent years.
Posts tagged with Niger
On 25 November 2023, General Abdourahamane Tiani, the President of the "Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP)", the body that has been running the government in Niger since the coup d'état on 26 July 2023, signed an order repealing the law 2015-036 on the "smuggling of migrants". All judgements handed down since the implementation of this law have been annulled with retroactive effect and all persons imprisoned based on this law have been released due to local sources from Niger. Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) and other civil society organisations from Niger welcome the abolition of this law criminalising migration.
Stranded in Niger, with no evacuation flights and no hope of help from the IOM or other institutions, Malian migrants left Arlit in northern Niger on foot on 30 October 2023.
17.10.2023: 20 migrants in distress rescued in northern Niger on the road between Dirkou and the Libyan border.
At least 5,012 people deported from Algeria to Niger from 26 July till 18 October 2023.
A video report about the precarious situation of migrants and refugees in Agadez, Niger, after July 26th military coup and atrocities many of them had to face when they were in Algeria. Published by Channel 4 News:
Statement by Alarme Phone Sahara on the situation in Niger after 26th of July 2023 military coup. Alarme Phone Sahara demands to stop threats of war and lift sanctions imposed on Niger, to organise humanitarian corridors, evacuations and resettlements for migrants and refugees stranded in Niger and to guarantee humanitarian assistance for those in need.
A short documentary by "Deutsche Welle" showing glimpses on situations of migrants and refugees in Agadez and Assamaka in Niger, deportations from Algeria and practical solidarity work by Alarme Phone Sahara:
At a time when thousands of migrants and refugees are trapped in a country troubled by sanctions and threats of war, Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) continues its practical solidarity.
Humanitarian crisis persists in Assamaka despite aid initiatives. Deported migrants make an urgent appeal to their heads of state and the African Union.