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Add to Preferred SourcesAtrocities suffered by child and adult migrants from the West African States “should shock the conscience of humanity” into action, a UN rights investigator said, before calling for Algeria to halt the collective expulsion of thousands of foreign nationals to Niger.
The appeal for help from the international community from UN Special Rapporteur on migration Felipe González Morales follows his official visit to Niger; a hub for those looking to leave in search of new opportunities, for decades.
In a statement, he cited testimonies of migrants exposed to “unimaginable atrocities”: trafficking, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, rape, as well as worker-exploitation and enslavement. They had taken migrant routes through Sudan, Chad, Libya and Mali to Niger.
While commending Niger for its “generosity and solidarity” in hosting refugees, Mr. González Morales noted how in recent years restrictive migration laws and policies had made it a “virtual southern border of Europe”.
“I heard testimonies of migrant women, men and children who were raided in their homes in the middle of the night, arbitrarily arrested and detained, beaten and ill-treated, transported in trucks and dropped 15 kilometres from the border with Niger,” Mr. González Morales said.
“These migrants are forced to walk through the desert, without any assistance from Algerian or Nigerien authorities, until the first Nigerien village, 20 kilometres away from the border.”
The development comes amid ongoing efforts by the international community to develop solutions for migrants and Member States by means of a Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
Original source: UN News
Published on 11 October 2018