Article on "Info Migrants" on Senegalese Migrant's protest in Agadez on 19th of September against the way the IOM handled their so-called "voluntary return", letting them wait for months under precarious conditions and repeatedly delaying their departure:
From the point of view of Alarme Phone Sahara, it can be added: Keeping people blocked under precarious and bad conditions until they see no other option for themselves but going back to their home countries is another brick in the wall of a repressive externalised border regime that has been set up in African countries under influence and pressure and with extensive funding from Europe.
Nevertheless, Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) stands in solidarity with the protests of migrants and refugees in the IOM and UNHCR camps and with their legitimate concerns.
Alarme Phone Sahara calls on IOM and its donors
- Provide sufficient resources to enable decent living conditions for all migrants and refugees in need of assistance in Niger!
- Accommodation and care must not be dependent on submission to a so-called "voluntary return"!
- For those who want to return to their country of origin of their own free will, they must be given the necessary assistance to return in dignified conditions!
- Instead of spending millions of Euros to close borders and prevent migration by force, respect the freedom of movement of people and invest in saving lives on the migration routes and creating safe travel routes for everyone!
Alarme Phone Sahara also calls on African states, especially ECOWAS members, to take steps to seek solutions for all people stranded on migration routes and defend their right to live in dignity and their right to free movement, instead of following the directives imposed by the outsourcing of European borders!