The Nigerien military regime has repealed a law passed in 2015 criminalizing the trafficking of migrants in Niger, a hub to Europe via neighboring Libya or Algeria, the government announced Monday evening, November 27. “The president of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland [CNSP, military regime], General Abdourahamane Tiani, signed an order on Saturday repealing” a law of May 26, 2015 “relating to the illicit trafficking of migrants,” indicates a press release from the general secretariat of the government read on public radio and television.
This law which “classifies and criminalizes certain activities which are regular in nature as illicit trafficking”, had “been passed under the influence of certain foreign powers”, states the press release. In addition, this law “was taken in flagrant contradiction with our community rules” and “did not take into account the interests of Niger and its fellow citizens,” he adds. The CNSP therefore “decided to repeal it” because of “all its harmful effects and its infringing nature of public freedoms”. The order states that “convictions” and “their effects” imposed under the repealed law “shall be expunged as of May 26, 2015.”
Passed on May 26, 2015 by the National Assembly, this law against migrant traffickers prescribed penalties “from one to thirty years in prison” and “fines of 3 million to 30 million CFA francs” (4,500 to 45,000 euros) against traffickers.
Since its entry into force, and with the financial support of the European Union (EU), surveillance, including military surveillance, had been reinforced in the desert of the Agadez region (north), an important transit point for thousands of West African nationals applying for emigration to Europe, via Algeria or Libya. Dozens of people working in illegal migration networks had been arrested and imprisoned; numerous migrant conveyor vehicles confiscated.
Continuation of traffic
But the 2015 law was not enough to deter migrants who changed routes, taking more dangerous routes through the desert via new tracks without water points or landmarks or possibilities of possible rescue.
Migrant rescue operations are common in the hostile Sahara desert, especially towards Libya. Many West African migrants generally gather in Agadez where smuggling networks are established.
According to city authorities, it is common for vehicles carrying migrants to break down in the desert, or for smugglers to get lost or abandon their passengers for fear of roadblocks or military patrols. Some migrants die of dehydration.
Niger has been led since July 26 by General Tiani, who came to power in a coup that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, president elected in 2021 and still sequestered in Niamey in his residence. The military regime has moved away from the European countries that were previously privileged partners of Niger, notably France, to move closer in particular to two of its neighbors also led by the military, Mali and Burkina Faso.
