Arrival of deported persons at Point Zero, Algeria-Niger border. Assistance with Alarm Phone Sahara tricycles. 25.06.2025. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Arrival of the deported persons at the Assamaka police station, assisted by Alarme Phone Sahara. 25.06.2025. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
According to security officials in Assamaka, between 1 and 21 April 2025, 2,753 Nigerien nationals, including 308 minors and 196 women, were deported from Algeria in so-called official convoys. According to the same source, during the same period, 2,222 people, including 146 nationals of Niger and 2,076 from other countries, mainly African, were also deported in so-called unofficial convoys and arrived in Assamaka.
On 7 June, InfoMigrants reported that, according to the Nigerien authorities, a total of 16,000 people had been deported from Algeria to Niger since April.
Without complete detailed figures on all deportation convoys, it is difficult to determine with any degree of certainty the total number of people deported since the beginning of 2025.
In any case, it’s clear that the large number of people arriving in Assamaka empty-handed, often sick, injured and traumatised, far exceeds the capacity of local reception facilities.
People killed by the conditions of deportation
The Alarm Phone Sahara team in Assamaka reports several cases of deaths caused by the conditions of expulsion in the first half of 2025:
02.03.2025: A Malian migrant, upon arriving in Assamaka, dies because of a beating received in Algeria by the security forces. The Alarm Phone Sahara whistleblower team buries him on the spot.
19.04.2025: An Ivorian national dies in Assamaka. He is buried by the Alarm Phone Sahara team.
21.04.2025: A Guinean national in a group of people deported in an ‘unofficial’ convoy and dumped in the desert outside Assamaka dies. The Alarm Phone Sahara team attends the funeral at the local cemetery.
22 April 2025: Two deceased persons are discovered in the desert 10 km and 12 km west of Assamaka. Based on their condition, one of the two persons died a few days earlier and the other significantly longer ago. IOM health workers and the gendarmerie take care of their burial.
Alarm Phone Sahara shares the grief of the relatives of these people who were deprived of their lives in appalling conditions and demands an end to the inhumane and deadly pushbacks from Algeria.
Expulsions in violent and dangerous conditions
Testimonies from various people, women and men, deported in deportation convoys reveal a disturbing pattern of border violence perpetrated by Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan security forces.
These are not isolated incidents, but systematic abuses marked by racism, sexism and extreme brutality – sometimes with fatal consequences.
Since the Tunisian state began large-scale deportations to its borders in 2023, many of those affected have been victims of a systematic practice of chain deportations: from Tunisia to the Algerian border, then, after being intercepted by Algerian security forces, to the Niger border near Assamaka.
Usually, people are deported at the ‘Point Zero’ post located 15 km from Assamaka, which serves as a reference point. However, recently, the Alarm Phone Sahara team has observed cases where people have been left at different locations in the surrounding area. This also complicates the work of the Alarm Phone Sahara team, which sets off each time to ‘Point Zero’ on its tricycle to rescue people in distress, especially the sick and injured and women with children.
Since the IOM stopped running such recue shuttles, Alarm Phone Sahara has become the only organisation on the ground that regularly sets off to ‘Point Zero’ to provide humanitarian assistance.
Given the difficult conditions in Algerian detention centres and during transport in the back of trucks, as well as the ill-treatment inflicted, many people arrive sick, injured or with fractures. In this condition, they have to walk to Assamaka until someone comes to their rescue.
For those who are deported, it is also difficult and dangerous, as the Algerian forces often drop them off between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. in the heat and hot wind.
The lack of water and food for first aid to the hungry and thirsty also poses a challenge for the rescue team.
Despite all these difficulties, the Alarm Phone Sahara team is doing everything possible to prevent people from dying in the desert as a result of inhumane pushbacks.
Distribution of pure water to deported people at Point Zero. 22.05.2025. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Boarding of deported people on Alarme Phone Sahara's tricycles at Point Zero. 10.05.2025. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Deported people on the way from Point Zero to Assamaka on Alarme Phone Sahara's tricycle. 29.05.2025. ©Alarme Phone Sahara
Authorities and media in Niger alerted to mass expulsions in Assamaka
Faced with the high number of people deported to the border in Assamaka in April 2025, the Nigerien public authorities and media are increasingly responding to the resulting emergency.
Several official delegations have visited the area to assess the situation. In May, a delegation comprising the regional governor, the prefects of Ingall and Arlit and senior officials was on the ground at the very moment when Algerian forces were dropping off large numbers of people at Point Zero and the Assamaka police station. Representatives of the IOM, who were also present during the visit, stated that more than 1,500 people were at that time in the local IOM reception centre and in emergency shelters set up by the Italian NGO COOPI.
According to the Alarm Phone Sahara team, an urgent issue is the transport of at least 4,000 migrants to their countries of origin by July, considering that many of them see no other prospects on their migration route.
Another notable development is the increased interest of the Nigerien media, in particular the national radio and television station RTN, which has reported in detail on the situation at the Niger-Algeria border and has also given a voice to those affected by the expulsions from the Maghreb countries.
Alarm Phone Sahara demands:
- In addition to emergency aid for the thousands of people deported, an immediate end to the round-ups and mass deportations in Algeria and Tunisia, as well as an end to border violence and human rights violations against people on the move!
- EU Member States have a duty to immediately end deals and cooperation with Maghreb countries aimed at preventing migration, as they are complicit in systematic border violence and the deaths of people on the move!
To read more :
Read more in the dossier on mass deportations from Maghreb countries!
Informigrants.net: Algeria expels more than 1,000 migrants to northern Niger
The Telegraph: Thousands of migrants abandoned in the desert without food, water or shoes
Incomplete timeline of deportations from Algeria to the Niger border at Assamaka from January to June 2025
13 January 2025: 99 people deported in an unofficial convoy. Among them were 6 nationals from Cameroon, 5 from Burkina Faso, 5 from Mali, 3 from Liberia, 2 from Gambia, 3 from Nigeria, 2 from Senegal, 11 from Sierra Leone, 3 from Côte d'Ivoire and 19 from Guinea Conakry.
13 January 2025: 108 people deported in an official convoy.
25 January 2025: 151 people deported in an official convoy and 45 in an unofficial convoy.
30 January 2025: 622 people deported in an official convoy.
06.02.2025: 695 people deported in an official convoy and 296 in an unofficial convoy.
16.02.2025: 248 people deported in an unofficial convoy.
18 February 2025: 786 Niger nationals deported in an official convoy
2 March 2025: 156 people deported in an unofficial convoy. A Malian migrant died on arrival in Assamaka as a result of being beaten by the police in Algeria.
04.03.2025: 219 people, including 28 women, 12 underage girls and 9 underage boys, were deported in an unofficial convoy. Among them were 14 nationals from Cameroon, 115 from Mali, one from Liberia, 58 from Nigeria, two from Senegal, 10 from Côte d'Ivoire, 11 from Guinea Conakry, four from Ghana and four from Niger.
04.03.2025: 382 people, including 8 women, 20 underage girls, 32 underage boys and 322 men, deported in an official convoy.
05.04.2025: 109 people deported in an official convoy.
16.02.2025: 248 people deported in an unofficial convoy.
11.04.2025: 292 people, including 45 women, 4 underage girls, 14 underage boys and 229 men, deported in an unofficial convoy. Among those deported were 3 nationals from Benin, 11 from Burkina Faso, one from Cameroon, one from Gambia, 7 from Côte d'Ivoire, 46 from Guinea Conakry, 8 from Liberia, 18 from Mali, 129 from Nigeria, 17 from Sierra Leone, 31 from Sudan, and 20 from Chad.
The Sudanese and Chadian nationals were taken directly to the Algerian border.
The deportees were dropped off at Point Zero around 10:30 a.m. in the heat and hot wind. There were many sick people and people with fractures, plus a considerable number of women.
The Alarm Phone Sahara team distributed water with its tricycle at Point Zero.
14 April 2025: 1,052 people, including 46 women, 76 underage girls, 55 underage boys and 875 men, were deported in an official convoy. Among those deported were 988 nationals of Niger and 64 from other countries, including 52 from Nigeria, 3 from Burkina Faso, one from Guinea Conakry, 4 from Mali, one from Ghana, one from Sudan and one from Chad.
The deported migrants were transported in 23 trucks and 2 vans carrying water, biscuits, ‘La Vache qui rit’ cheese and small bottles of juice.
14.04.: The death of a migrant is reported from Tamanrasset in Algeria. The Alarm Phone Sahara team is trying to find his family.
15.04.2025: 282 people, including one woman and 281 men, deported in an unofficial convoy. Among those deported were 7 nationals from Benin, 12 from Cameroon, 43 from Côte d'Ivoire, 9 from Gambia, 2 from Ghana, 104 from Guinea Conakry, 79 from Mali, 11 from Nigeria, 7 from Senegal and 8 from Sierra Leone.
17 April 2025: 60 people deported in an unofficial convoy and 410 in an unofficial convoy.
Among those deported in unofficial convoys were 7 women, 2 minor boys and 51 men. 5 were nationals of Cameroon, 2 of Côte d'Ivoire, 37 of Guinea Conakry, 3 of Liberia, 4 of Mali, 7 of Nigeria, and 2 of Sierra Leone.
Among those deported in the official convoy were 21 women, 18 minor girls, 15 minor boys and 356 men. 364 were nationals of Niger and 46 from other countries, including 2 from Cameroon, 25 from Nigeria, 7 from Guinea Conakry, 11 from Mali and one from Ghana.
18.04.25: The Alarm Phone Sahara team rescued a woman and her two daughters, who were exhausted and thirsty, on the road from Assamaka to Arlit. In Assamaka, they were taken into care by MSF and COOPI.
19.04.2025: 1,141 people, including women, minors and men, were deported in an unofficial convoy. Among those deported were 3 nationals from Bangladesh, 70 from Benin, 54 from Burkina Faso, 24 from Cameroon, one from the Central African Republic, 87 from Côte d'Ivoire, 9 from Gambia, 2 from Ghana, 347 from Guinea Conakry, one from Liberia, 287 from Mali, 20 from Niger, 44 from Nigeria, 18 from Senegal, 22 from Sierra Leone, 50 from Somalia, 58 from Sudan and 44 from Chad.
Alarm Phone Sahara notes the sad news of the death of an Ivorian national. The deceased was buried by members of the team.
The team also noted the problem of a lack of water to distribute to this large number of people.
21.04.2025: Arrival of an unconfirmed number of people deported in an unofficial convoy at Point Zero and others in an official convoy at the Assamaka police station. The Alarm Phone Sahara team distributes bags of water (pure water) to the deportees.
Alarme Phone Sahara also reports the sad news of the death of a Guinean national. The team attends the funeral at the Assamaka cemetery.
22.04.2025: Two deceased persons are discovered in the desert 10km and 12km west of Assamaka.
25.04.2025: Arrival of an unconfirmed number of deported people in an unofficial convoy.
In addition, 1,050 deported migrants are transferred from Assamaka to Agadez via Arlit.
01.05.2025: Arrival of an unconfirmed number of people deported in an unofficial convoy.
09.05.2025: 307 people, including two women and 305 men, deported in an unofficial convoy. Among those deported were 6 nationals from Gambia, 11 from Senegal, 11 from Burkina Faso, 5 from Sierra Leone, 100 from Guinea Conakry, 11 from Côte d'Ivoire, 32 from Cameroon, 80 from Mali, 12 from Benin, 37 from Nigeria and two from the Central African Republic.
The Alarm Phone Sahara team, alerted by a Guinean woman, rescued and evacuated a group of 27 women with four babies and four boys who had set out on foot from Point Zero towards Assamaka to save their lives.
19 May 2025: The NGO CIAUD, which collaborates with the UNHCR, distributed non-food kits to migrants, the local population and refugees at the Assamaka Integrated Health Centre.
22 May 2025: Arrival of 202 people deported in an unofficial convoy.
The Alarm Phone Sahara team distributes dates, biscuits and water and helps transport them to the police station. An 18-year-old girl is suffering from breathing problems. She recovers after water is poured over her head and she is given dates and biscuits.
Confirmed number of deported persons present in Assamaka: 1,064 migrants at the IOM centre, 1,411 migrants in COOPI NGO shelters. Official figure including new arrivals: 2,677. In addition, there is an unconfirmed number of people who have no place at the IOM centre or in COOPI shelters and are surviving on the streets of Assamaka.
26.05.25: Several people leave the IOM centre.
29.05.2025: Arrival of an unconfirmed number of people deported in an unofficial convoy at Point Zero.
25.06.2025: Arrival of an estimated 600 people deported in an unofficial convoy at Point Zero.
