Why did Niger revoke its anti-migrant smuggling law? Is Europe worried?

Niger’s junta has revoked a law criminalising migrant smuggling – and some in Europe are worried. On Monday, the Nigerian government signed a decree revoking a 2015 law that enacted to curb the smuggling of migrants traveling from African countries through a key migration route in Niger en route to Europe. But what happened exactly? And why is Europe so concerned about the law? Let’s take a closer look: What happened? As per BBC, the junta leader General Abdourahmane Tchiani said the law “did not take into account the interests of Niger and its citizens". “The convictions pronounced pursuant to said law and their effects shall be cancelled,” Tchiani added in a 25 November decree. The law, which made it illegal to transport migrants through Niger, was passed in May 2015 as the number of people traveling across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa reached record highs, creating a political and humanitarian crisis in Europe where governments came under pressure to stop the influx. Ibrahim Jean Etienne, the secretary general of the justice ministry, said all those convicted under the law would be considered for release by the Ministry of Justice.

The circular also said convictions handed down under the 2015 law would be “erased”.

Niger’s junta, which took power in a July coup, repealed the law on Saturday and announced it Monday evening on state television. The junta is reassessing its relations with former western allies who condemned the coup, and is seeking to shore up support at home, including in the northern desert communities that had benefited most from migration. The number of migrants moving through Niger, a main transit country on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert, dropped sharply over the years because of the law, but the change drained the lifeblood from towns and villages that had fed and housed migrants and sold car parts and fuel to traffickers. In return, the European Union launched the nearly $5.5 billion Trust Fund for Africa in 2015, aimed at eradicating the root causes of migration, but many felt it was not enough. Unemployment soared in places like the ancient city of Agadez, a popular gateway to the Sahara. Why is Europe concerned? As per BBC, this is a massive blow to the bloc’s attempts to stymie the flow of migration from Africa. Niger’s Agadez region is a gateway from West Africa to the Sahara and it has been a key route both for Africans trying to reach Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe and for those who are returning home with help from the United Nations. The route has also become a lucrative place for people smugglers, prompting Niger’s government, working with the European Union, to sign the 2015 law to stop the movement of at least 4,000 migrants which the UN estimates travel through Agadez every week without travel documents. [caption id=“attachment_13442242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Refugees from sub-Saharan Africa sit in a makeshift boat intercepted by Tunisian authorities in the Mediterranean Sea about 50 nautical miles (93km) off the coast of the city of Sfax. AFP.[/caption] The law empowered security forces and the courts to prosecute smugglers who faced up to five years in prison if convicted. A former trafficker told the BBC in 2019, “If the law was eased I would go back to people trafficking, that’s for sure. It earned me as much as $6,000 a week, far more money than anything I can do now." He noted that under the law smugglers could be behind bars for a ‘long time’ and that their cars would be impounded. BBC noted that European officials now worry that gangs could yet again push migrants into Libya and Algeria – who would then be illegally ferried to Europe. How European leaders greet the news and what the impact will be on migration to Europe are yet to be seen. But some people welcomed it. Andre Chani used to earn thousands of dollars a month driving migrants through the desert before police impounded his trucks in 2016. He plans to restart his business once he has the money.

“I’m going to start again,” he said via text message from Agadez on Monday. “We are very happy.”

Experts have expressed concern. DPA news agency quoted Ulf Laessing, the regional office director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for the Sahel in Germany, as saying: “Now the horror scenario is unfolding for Europe.” Following the 26 July coup, which deposed Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum, Western and European countries suspended aid for health, security and infrastructure needs to the country, which relies heavily on foreign support as one of the least developed nations in the world. The revocation of the law adds a new twist to growing political tensions between Niger and EU countries that sanctioned the West African nation in response to the July coup that deposed its democratically elected president and brought the junta into power. Rather than deter the soldiers who deposed Bazoum, the sanctions have resulted in economic hardship for Nigeriens and emboldened the junta. It has set up a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years. While the law transformed Niger into a migration hub housing thousands of migrants being returned to their countries, the UN human rights office has also noted that it “led migrants to seek increasingly dangerous migratory routes, leading to increased risks of human rights violations.” With inputs from agencies