Algeria deports hundreds of West African migrants to Niger
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DAKAR - Algerian authorities have deported hundreds of West African migrants to Niger this week, trucking them thousands of miles across the desert in one of the biggest roundups seen this year, according to officials and human rights groups.
Algeria has often sent migrants back to Niger since 2014 as the number of people taking the dangerous route to Europe from West Africa has swelled. But the latest group is different because it involves people from across the region, not just Niger, officials said, suggesting a more determined effort to remove immigrants.
Over the last two days, at least 1,000 migrants came in a convoy of about 50 trucks to Agadez in central Niger, a desert town where migrants from all over West Africa pay smugglers to take them on the treacherous journey north through the Sahara, according to officials in Agadez, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Human Rights Watch.
"They are about 1,000, 271 from Niger, the rest from West African countries, mainly Mali and Guinea Conakry," said Giuseppe Loprete, the head of IOM's mission in Niger.
