According to reports from Migrant News, based on data provided by the NGO ‘Alarm Phone Sahara’, Algerian authorities forcibly expelled a minimum of 34,236 undocumented migrants to Niger throughout 2025. The Agadez-based organisation described this figure as unprecedented and warned that the actual scale of deportations likely far exceeds documented statistics. The inherent difficulty in monitoring the vast, remote desert border zones means many cases of expulsion go unrecorded, particularly those involving migrants from various sub-Saharan African nations.
The logistical process of these deportations, as detailed by ‘Alarm Phone Sahara’, involves widespread security sweeps by Algerian police and gendarmerie across the country. Detained migrants are typically transported via buses to processing and sorting centres in the southern city of Tamanrasset. From there, they are moved in large convoys toward the Nigerien border and forced to disembark at a desolate location known as ‘Point Zero’. This drop-off point is situated roughly 15 kilometres from the Nigerien village of Assamaka, forcing thousands—including women, children, and infants—to trek across the harsh Saharan terrain on foot to reach help.
These perilous journeys have resulted in numerous injuries and confirmed fatalities. The NGO documented at least 35 deaths in the Nigerien desert between January and August 2025, primarily due to extreme exhaustion and a lack of humanitarian assistance. While Nigerien citizens are often returned through official border crossings, migrants of other African nationalities are frequently pushed through informal routes. This situation represents a significant escalation from 2024, which saw approximately 31,000 expulsions. Data shows that in April and May 2025 alone, over 16,000 people were deported, a figure that nearly equals the total number of returns for the first half of the previous year.
First-hand testimonies, such as that provided to Migrant News by a 25-year-old Senegalese man named Mamadou, highlight the severe physical and psychological toll of these operations. Mamadou recounted being detained and subjected to ill-treatment, including the confiscation of his mobile phone and personal belongings, before being abandoned in the desert. He expressed that while the experience was deeply traumatising, surviving both the desert and the Mediterranean crossing has led him to seek a return to his home country to share his story. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Niger continues to deteriorate as international funding declines. The UNHCR has been forced to halt food voucher distributions for most migrants, further increasing the risk of a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe in the border region.