Nouadhibou, Mauritania – When Omar*, a 29-year-old bricklayer from rural Gambia, crossed the border into Mauritania in March, he got here searching for the higher pay he’d heard he may discover.
He settled in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second-largest metropolis, the place he shared a one-room shack with 4 associates, and located work as an off-the-cuff labourer on development websites, incomes two to 3 occasions greater than he had again residence.
Beneficial Tales
listing of three objectsfinish of listing
The oldest of 9 kids and the son of a rice farmer, Omar was in a position to save sufficient to assist his household in The Gambia and pay his youthful siblings’ faculty charges.
Then, in August, the Nationwide Guard’s armed pick-up vans arrived within the metropolis, and the police started rounding up migrants to detain and deport.
Nouadhibou’s development websites grew to become early targets, so, to keep away from seize, Omar – who didn’t have a residence allow – stopped working. He restricted his actions to his housing compound in a dusty alleyway in Ghiran, a neighbourhood with a big migrant inhabitants, and the adjoining nook retailer.
However quickly, the police started concentrating on houses. They got here day and night time – breaking down doorways if these inside didn’t reply instantly.
One night, police swept by way of Omar’s compound. He and his associates escaped by fleeing over the rooftops, however with nowhere else to go, they returned later that night time.
Nonetheless unable to work, Omar and his housemates ran critically wanting cash, sharing only one small bowl of rice a day, and occasional fish caught by a pal who would sneak by way of the backstreets to a close-by estuary at the hours of darkness.
“All of the feelings I am going by way of in someday are laborious to clarify,” Omar advised Al Jazeera in early September.
‘Merciless and degrading circumstances’
Al Jazeera spoke to migrants caught up within the authorities crackdown in Nouadhibou, the capital Nouakchott, and in each Rosso, Mauritania, and Rosso, Senegal – twin cities on reverse sides of the Senegal River, which marks the border between the 2 nations. Lots of these we spoke to have since been pushed out of Mauritania, typically to a 3rd nation.
The Mauritanian Affiliation for Human Rights (AMDH) estimated that in March alone, 1,200 individuals have been deported. Of these, about 700 had residence permits permitting them to legally work in Mauritania.
The Mauritanian authorities haven’t launched deportation figures, however in response to an announcement by authorities spokesman Houssein Ould Medou, 130,000 migrants entered the nation of 5 million in 2022, whereas solely 7,000 individuals renewed their residence permits that yr.
The federal government has not publicly detailed the scope and goals of its deportation marketing campaign. However in Might, Inside Minister Mohamad Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine advised parliament that Mauritania was absolutely inside its rights to manage the motion of foreigners on its territory, stressing that authorities acted “with respect for human dignity”. The deportees have been to be given enough meals and water, entry to medical companies, and have been allowed to maintain their private possessions, he added.
Earlier, in March, authorities spokesman Medou insisted that “stories of current deportations have been exaggerated,” referring to accounts circulating on social media websites.
After the mass deportations began this yr, some consultants famous that comparable campaigns had additionally taken place in Mauritania in 2009 and 2012, albeit at a smaller scale. Nonetheless, different observers identified that this time, the crackdown got here not lengthy after Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Fee, introduced a 210 million euro ($248m) migration partnership deal between the European Union and Mauritania in February 2024.
The monetary package deal helps safety and “migration administration” in addition to different investments in “inexperienced power, employment and expertise, entrepreneurship … and strengthening entry to socioeconomic companies for refugees, asylum seekers and host communities”, a European Fee (EC) spokesperson advised Al Jazeera in a written assertion.
Nonetheless, consultants be aware that in pursuing a coverage of “border externalisation”, the EU has lately made offers with nations together with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Niger to stem irregular migration from main departure factors in Africa.
Mauritania is of specific curiosity due to its proximity to Spain’s Canary Islands. A 2025 report from Spain’s Nationwide Safety Division acknowledged that in 2024, 25,081 individuals departed from Mauritania’s shores for the archipelago – greater than half of the islands’ 46,843 whole irregular arrivals that yr. A number of individuals Al Jazeera spoke to mentioned they may have thought-about travelling by boat to Europe, however that it was now too costly and troublesome. Most wished to remain in Mauritania to work and ship cash residence to their households.
In October 2024, an modification to Mauritania’s 1965 immigration legislation got here into power. The modification legislated that any international nationwide convicted of not abiding by immigration laws, significantly these getting into or residing within the nation illegally, could be “robotically expelled” and banned from re-entry for a interval of 1 to 10 years.
A number of months later, in a speech to parliament, Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Djay described “the battle in opposition to unlawful immigration” as one of many authorities’s priorities.
The Mauritanian authorities didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s requests for remark. However in response to questions concerning the EU, the EC spokesperson mentioned the bloc has “scaled up its assist to Mauritania” on “migration administration”, whereas stressing that safety for these in want and respect for the human rights of migrants have been “basic rules”.
The spokesperson added that the EU is “in a continuing dialogue with Mauritania” to make sure the partnership is respectful of human rights.
Nonetheless, rights teams, opposition politicians and migrants paint a unique image of what’s taking place.
“What individuals see every single day is concern,” mentioned Kadiata Malik Diallo, a Mauritanian opposition MP who has been a vocal critic of the federal government marketing campaign. “Mass expulsions carried out below merciless and degrading circumstances.”
‘How a lot are you able to pay?’
Nouadhibou, a windswept port metropolis positioned on the tip of a slim, 65km (40-mile) peninsula, has lengthy drawn migrants from West and Central Africa. Lots of them discover work in development, fishing, or different sectors of the town’s casual economic system. They’re a visual a part of metropolis life – in markets, ports, and streets – and whereas up-to-date numbers are laborious to return by, in 2020, the Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM) estimated the town’s migrant inhabitants at 32,000, a few fifth of the whole.
For Nouadhibou’s migrants, the arrests have created concern and confusion.
An Ivorian development employee in his mid-20s advised Al Jazeera that he had been arrested 3 times in lower than every week.
The employee, who didn’t have legitimate paperwork and requested to make use of solely his surname, Traore*, mentioned the primary time police raided his compound, 11 individuals have been handcuffed however launched once they managed to pool the equal of $200 in bribes to the police.
Two days later, he mentioned, the police reappeared, breaking down doorways and arresting 14 individuals. They have been taken to an area police station earlier than being launched when their boss on the development web site paid a bribe.
The third time, he was on a big development web site close to Nouadhibou airport when it was raided by police, who arrested greater than 60 males with out paperwork. A few of these have been in a position to pay bribes starting from $11 to $33, however Traore had no cash left and was solely launched after his boss intervened on his behalf.
Traore’s Ivorian colleague, Ibrahim*, mentioned that when his compound was raided, he confirmed the cops his current entry stamp, which permitted him to remain within the nation for the next three months. One of many cops concluded that Ibrahim’s paperwork have been so as, however one other officer ignored the stamp and arrested him.
After spending 5 days in jail, Ibrahim was approached by a police officer, who he mentioned advised him, “Now we’ll do enterprise. How a lot are you able to pay?” Ibrahim paid a $100 bribe.
The fixed menace of extortion and harassment has dealt a significant blow to the livelihoods of Nouadhibou’s migrant employees. “We don’t know what to do,” mentioned Obi*, an electrician from the Ivory Coast. After narrowly escaping three arrests, he now solely goes to work on days when he has heard that there is not going to be raids. He now feels trapped in Mauritania – unable to earn a residing, but additionally unable to afford to return residence.
‘In case you have cash, you’ll be able to survive’
Two weeks after the primary raid on Omar’s compound, the police turned up once more. This time, they discovered him sleeping. Bodily and mentally exhausted after weeks of fear, Omar mentioned he submitted with out resistance.
However for others, arrest was a extra traumatic expertise.
Yunisa*, a 28-year-old Sierra Leonean forklift operator at a Chinese language fish-processing plant, was apprehended on his option to work. When he tried to name his boss for assist, he mentioned his cellphone was slapped out of his hand, shattering the display.
“I’ve to go to work,” he protested as he was handcuffed. He mentioned the officer advised him, “You’ll be able to go exploit your individual nation’s riches now.”
Yunisa mentioned he was not allowed to retrieve his belongings from his residence earlier than he was deported to Rosso, Senegal.
Even those that have been arrested of their houses describe not being permitted to take their possessions with them.
Youssouf*, a 22-year-old Guinean working in a sardine manufacturing unit, mentioned he requested for a second to get his start certificates and faculty diploma when police broke down the door of his shack, however was advised, “We don’t have time for that.” When he tried to insist, he mentioned he was slapped. He was taken with out sneakers to a close-by faculty, the place he mentioned he was searched, and police confiscated $3 they present in his pockets.
As soon as in Nouadhibou’s migrant detention facility, Youssouf mentioned he was fed solely as soon as a day, sometimes a chunk of bread with sardines, or typically simply plain bread. For water, he was pressured to depend on a small faucet within the frequent bathroom, accessible solely throughout rare bathroom breaks.
Omar mentioned he was given no meals throughout his three-day detention, however that police would supply to carry meals from retailers at extortionate costs. “If the value is 50 [Ouguiya], they bring about it to you for 100. In case you have cash, you’ll be able to survive,” he mentioned.
The identical precept utilized when he wished to make a cellphone name to the Gambian embassy in Nouakchott. The 11 Gambians he was in detention with have been in a position to pool $13 to make use of a guard’s cellphone. The decision failed, however they have been pressured to pay regardless and weren’t allowed to attempt once more.
Migrants who’ve been detained say entry to bogs was restricted or non-existent. Within the three days Omar was held in detention, he was pressured to urinate into a big bucket with 50 different males in the identical room the place they slept. Yunisa mentioned he and his fellow inmates have been advised to urinate into empty water bottles.
‘I cried, however the police didn’t hear’
Whereas the deportation marketing campaign has largely focused males, girls and youngsters have additionally been swept up in police raids.
Mariam*, a 31-year-old mom of two from Sierra Leone, who had lived in Nouakchott for 5 years, promoting ice-cream on the road, was approached by police on the way in which to a pharmacy, the place she meant to purchase drugs for her one-year-old daughter, who was sick with extreme diarrhoea.
When she protested that her two daughters have been at residence – one in pressing want of medication – she mentioned she was advised, “This isn’t the time in your child. That is the time for paperwork.” She was then taken to a holding facility, which she described as a “cattle shed”.
After pleading with guards on the detention facility, she was allowed to make a cellphone name to a neighbour, who introduced her kids to the power. For the subsequent two days, they have been held collectively. Guards would enter the room to eat in entrance of them, she mentioned. On the second day, a guard gave her daughters an ice cream to share. It was the one factor they ate throughout their detention.
After two days, Mariam’s husband’s boss paid a bribe, and she or he and her kids have been launched. That very same day, she left voluntarily for Senegal to reunite along with her husband, who had been deported some months earlier.
Others stay separated from their kids. Oumar*, a 22-year-old Guinean migrant, now in Senegal, was arrested along with his spouse as they went to purchase meals, whereas their four-year-old daughter stayed at residence.
“I defined all the things, I cried, however the police didn’t hear,” he advised Al Jazeera from his short-term lodging in Rosso.
Unable to journey again to Mauritania and strapped for money, Oumar and his spouse have no idea how they are going to be reunited with their daughter, who’s being cared for by a neighbour.
Trapped in no-man’s land
From Nouadhibou, migrants are sometimes transported south in buses to detention amenities in Nouakchott, from the place they’re subsequently despatched both to Gogui, Mauritania’s border crossing with Mali, or Rosso.
Detainees advised Al Jazeera they’re typically chained to at least one one other through the journey.
Amadou*, a 19-year-old Guinean now in Senegal, described how a policeman, meaning to chain him to a different detainee, pulled him forcefully by the collar. “My brother, don’t pull me like that, don’t pull me like I’m a sheep,” he protested. He mentioned the officer slapped him so laborious {that a} week later, he was nonetheless unable to listen to correctly.
As soon as in Rosso, detainees have their fingerprints taken at Mauritania’s border put up, earlier than they’re launched into the port space. There, they look ahead to a ferry to take them to the Senegalese border put up on the opposite aspect of the River Senegal, simply over 500 metres (550 yards) away. As soon as there, a few of these with paperwork that allow them to enter Senegal visa-free are lucky sufficient to cross the border. However many others stay stranded.
Omar, although nonetheless in possession of his Gambian ID card, which ought to have given him visa-free entry to Senegal, was refused entry. “Have you ever been deported?” the border guards on the Senegalese aspect of the river requested. When Omar and his associates acknowledged that that they had been, they have been advised to return to Mauritania.
Caught on the Senegalese border put up, they waited till the useless of night time, once they as an alternative paid for a pirogue to smuggle them to a distant drop-off level within the bush on the Senegalese aspect of the river.
These missing legitimate paperwork – typically left of their Mauritanian houses as a result of police didn’t enable for his or her assortment – recounted comparable experiences.
Youssouf was trapped on the Mauritanian border put up till his associates pooled about $9 to assist him pay for the pirogue to Senegal. Beneath the duvet of darkness, the pirogue took him to a distant marshland just a few kilometres downstream of the border put up throughout the river. From there, he waded by way of knee-deep water till he reached dry land on the outskirts of Rosso.
Unable to afford the journey again to Guinea, Youssouf joined giant teams of deportees sleeping on the streets of Rosso.
A day after Youssouf and his associates spoke to Al Jazeera, they have been arrested by Senegalese police and despatched again to the no-man’s land on the Mauritanian aspect of the river. There, they have been as soon as once more pressured to pool cash to pay for a pirogue to take them again throughout the river.
Stepping off the pirogue and onto Senegalese soil, Omar and his associates circumvented Rosso by way of distant bush roads, getting into the freeway after the final police checkpoint outdoors the town. From there, they took a collection of shared taxis in direction of The Gambia.
Al Jazeera reached out to the accountable authorities our bodies in Mauritania to ask concerning the migrant deportation marketing campaign, together with the deportees’ allegations of widespread violations and misconduct by police. We contacted the federal government spokesman, the Gendarmerie, and the Ministry of the Inside, Decentralisation and Native Improvement, which is accountable for the marketing campaign and accountable for the police forces conducting the operation. As of the time of publication, that they had not responded.
‘In the event that they cease deporting individuals, I’ll return’
Chatting with Al Jazeera in late September, every week after his return to The Gambia, Omar expressed combined feelings.
“There’s no policeman chasing us right here. You don’t must look over your shoulder,” he mentioned, including, “There’s no place like residence.”
However with the wet season not but over in The Gambia, demand for labourers is low, and Omar has been unable to seek out work.
“The faculties are opening, and my household is asking, ‘The place is the bag of rice?’” he mentioned. “There isn’t a money and so they don’t prefer it.”
Regardless of his ordeal, Omar stays nostalgic about his early days in Nouadhibou, when the work was common and the wages good.
For now, he intends to maintain an in depth eye on the local weather in Mauritania. “In the event that they cease deporting individuals, I’ll return to Nouadhibou,” he mentioned.
*All interviewees requested that solely considered one of their names be used for security causes.
