In Mauritania, thousands of migrants who once relied on daily street work to survive have been rounded up, detained in poor conditions, and deported to remote borders under an EU-backed effort to halt migration. These measures, aimed at stopping Atlantic migration routes to Europe, have sparked widespread fear among locals and migrants alike.
Al Jazeera correspondent Shola Lawal reports from Nouakchott that remaining migrants are too afraid to step outside. They say police raids are conducted daily, identifying illegal migrants and deporting them immediately.
“We are now afraid to leave the house. At any moment while on the street, we can be arrested and sent back to our country,” says a Senegalese migrant living in Mauritania.
The EU claims these measures are aimed at controlling migration flows and protecting human rights, but critics view them as human rights violations. The Mauritanian government denies these allegations, stating that the measures are carried out within the framework of the law.
