The 613 people have traveled from their homeland of Niger to neighboring Libya, where many plan to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Europe, a journey thousands of people from sub-Saharan Africa make each year. I'm trying to.
But late last month, the men were deported by Libyan authorities in one of the largest deportations in years. Mass deportations are part of a common pattern. North African governments, funded by the European Union, are using brutal tactics to stop sub-Saharan African migrants from making their way to Europe.
The 613 men arrived at the Libyan border on January 3, disheveled, hungry, barefoot and some in poor health after months in detention and days traveling across the Sahara Desert. We arrived at the nearest town in Niger. Two of the men died shortly after arriving in Niger.
“I lived through hell,” said one of the men, Salmana Issouf. Issoufou, 18, said he was beaten with wire and weapons by Libyan guards during his eight months in detention.
Amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe, from France to Germany to Hungary, sub-Saharan African nationals attempting to reach the continent are being pushed back by North African governments on a scale not seen in years. It is. The EU has signed bilateral agreements with Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania that include financial support to curb migration flows.
The strategy appears to be working, with recent data from the European Union's border agency Frontex showing that illegal border crossings plummeted in 2024.
But human rights groups say the methods used to prevent sub-Saharan migrants from reaching Europe include well-documented human rights violations, including so-called desert dumps. claims. Migrants are being left without food or water in the Sahara Desert or held in prisons in North Africa, where they are subjected to torture, sexual violence and starvation.
Tunisia has dumped more than 12,000 people, including children and pregnant women, in desolate areas of Libya since signing a deal with the European Union in 2023, according to the United Nations. Last year, the EU signed a similar agreement with Mauritania.
In Libya, the European Union is funding the country's coast guard, which has been accused of firing live ammunition during interceptions at sea and handing over migrants to violent militias.
An investigation last year by a coalition of media outlets found that vehicles and intelligence provided by EU countries were being used by security forces in North Africa to arrest migrants and transport them to desert areas.
The 613 men deported to Niger this month have been held in Libya since at least last fall, according to local officials who escorted them to the Nigerian town of Dirkou, about 420 miles south of Libya from the border.
Two men died in Dirkow, said Abba Cheke, a social worker who works for Alarmphone Sahara, a nonprofit organization that rescues migrants stranded in the desert.
The men arrived last week in Agadez, northern Niger's largest city and a major transport hub for migrants. They were exhausted and dehydrated, and some suffered skin lesions and broken limbs. All six deported men said in interviews with the New York Times that they suffered mistreatment at the hands of Libyan authorities.
Adamou Harouna, 36, said guards burned plastic while in custody.
The mass deportations from Libya mirror similar moves from Algeria, which shares a 580-mile border with Niger, where more than 31,000 people were deported last year, the highest in years, according to Alarm von Sahara. It is said that he was deported from the country.
Algerian authorities drop off migrants at the border with Niger, where they must walk for hours through the desert to reach the nearest town. Migrants also face beatings and physical violence in Algerian prisons. (The European Union does not have a migration agreement with Algeria.)
The number of deportations from Libya to Niger has so far been lower than to Algeria, but recent mass deportations have raised concerns about a possible increase. Hundreds of African nationals were forcibly returned from Libya to Chad, Egypt, Sudan and Tunisia last year, according to the United Nations.
In Africa, deported migrants are returned to their home countries by the United Nations' International Organization for Migration. In Niger, the organization transports people stranded in border areas to Agadez and then transports them back to their home country on flights that depart several times a week.
The organization arranged a bus for the Nigerian man. Issoufou, 18, said he plans to remain in Niger. Harouna said she plans to return to Libya as soon as possible.
Ibrahim Manzo Diallo contributed reporting from Niger, Niamey and Saikou Jammeh. My name is Jenny Gross, I'm from Dakar, Senegal, and I'm from London.
