By Biran Gaye
Scores of Gambian migrants are reportedly in distress as they languish in the Sahel country of Niger, with Baba Secka critically injured during a violent confrontation.
A confrontation ensued between Gambian migrants and the Ivorians during a football match which turned violent, with both parties pelting stones and other objects at one another, says Secka’s father who spoke to Foroyaa on condition of anonymity.
According to his father, Baba was hit with objects as scuffle broke out between the West African nationals, rendering him unconscious for several hours. He was rushed to the hospital by his Gambian counterparts, where he was admitted and later released.
In a voice note shared with this medium, Secka could be heard narrating his ordeal, saying he experiences fever, body pain, and headache with little or no medicine.
Baba had been deported to the desert near Niger by the Algerian police after they raided their residence.
Another Gambian migrant, who is helping Secka to get back to his feet, lamented in another WhatsApp voice note “the lack of food, bedding, and sanitary facilities” in the camp. He said the migrants’ camp is short of basic necessities and is overcrowded with different African nationals.
The migrants called on the government and the International organization for Migration to help repatriate them.
In Niger, Migrants are usually exploited through hard labour in exchange for little payments, especially in mining sites.
COOPI, an Italian aid group that provides shelter for migrants in Niger’s northern town of Assamakka near the border with Algeria, assists the U.N. in hosting people, but had been overwhelmed by the influx of migrants.
Niger had also been a key partner for the European Union (EU) in working to stem the flow of migrants.
Niger abided by most of the EU’s demands, under President Mohamed Bazoum’s leadership, dismantling established smuggling and trafficking networks around Agadez that took migrants and refugees to Libya and Algeria.
The country received nearly 300 million euros under the EU Trust Fund for Africa, a multi-billion-dollar program aimed at fighting the root causes of migration in the continent.
At the end of July 2023, mutinous soldiers overthrew Niger’s democratically elected president and closed its airspace.
The current situation in Niger poses significant risks to international migrants and refugees, internally displaced persons, and victims of trafficking, as well as vulnerable communities, leaving them in even more precarious conditions.
Given its geographical position, Niger has become a major hub for movements towards Libya, Algeria, and the Mediterranean. Due to the complex humanitarian and security crisis in Libya, Niger has become an alternative route for illegal migrants.
