From February 27 to 28, 2023, the transnational Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) project is organizing a conference in Niamey on the obstacles to the free movement of people in space. of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). At the heart of these obstacles, law 2015-036 adopted by Niger on November 26, 2015 and implemented in 2016.
Under the theme ” Criminalization of Migration and the Impacts of Law 2015-36 on Free Movement in the ECOWAS Region », the conference which takes place face-to-face and online, brings together around 200 people. The objective is to shine the spotlight mainly on the negative impacts of this law and the various mechanisms for restricting the mobility of people put in place by the African and European systems.
« Plans to restrict the right to free movement are in the process of breaking the socio-economic fabric of communities through an intelligentsia called “Frontex” skilfully deployed in Africa through a certain cell called ” risk management related to irregular migration » and a presence of liaison officers », declared Dr. Chehou Aziz, coordinator of Alarme Phone Sahara, at the opening of the works. ” The joint investigation team mission composed of Spanish, French and Nigerien police elements resulted in more than 700 arrests between 2017 and 2022 “, he underlines.
Hardly affected freedoms
The negative consequences of law 2015-36, known as the “law of fight against illicit trafficking in persons are variously appreciated, notes APS. The network notes that several other measures going in this direction have negatively impacted human rights, individual and collective freedoms in general and those of people in migration in particular hard affected. ” The departures to the north via the Sahara and by sea are a perfect illustration and the events of June 24, 2022 in the enclaves of Melilla constitute an unprecedented alert “, lamented the coordinator of APS. He believes that this ” heinous and blameworthy crime should have been condemned in addition to the identification of those responsible and their bringing before the courts. But, emphasizes Dr. Chehou Aziz, the complicit silence of the international community does not date from today. ” What the nationals of Africa south of the Sahara are experiencing in Libya, Algeria, Morocco and the recent racist remarks by President Kaïs Saeed of Tunisia is no more, no less than an unparalleled offense to the place of the peoples of Africa south of the Sahara as a whole he says.
In Niger, the region of Agadez is the most affected by the effects of law 2015-36 criticized by Alarme Phone Sahara.
« In Niger, we found that migrants who come from other regions of the country, as soon as they cross the border of the Agadez region, everything becomes new. It is at this moment that they are in any case undergoing all the hassle “, affirmed the coordinator of APS. According to him, these hassles are linked to rackets asking for money to discourage them from going north, ” as if any move north means going to Europe ».
ECOWAS and African leaders challenged
For his part, Alassan Docko, member of APS Mali and in charge of advocacy and public relations of Afrique-Europe-Interact appeals to ECOWAS ” so that it is truly the ECOWAS of the peoples, on behalf of the peoples “. It also calls on African leaders to change the status of people on the move.
« I think that, it’s true that we are civil society, we must do our best to enlighten opinions. But, it is up to them, state and institutional officials, to change the status of people on the move, especially in our ECOWAS area. », affirmed Alassan Dicko. “My most pressing call in this line, he adds, is to pay attention to the many hotspots, that is to say the hot spots that are being created, because it is thousands and thousands of young people, hundreds of women, dozens of children who are stuck in Agadez, Assamaka, Arlit, Tamenrasset, Rabat, Casablanca, Tunis etc. ».
For Alassan Dicko, “ it is time that our statesmen, our politicians, do the maximum that is necessary so that the populations are respected and that they have freedom wherever they want, because we have seen that the nationals of Strong states are not affected ».
It should be noted that the transnational Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) project stems from an initiative of actors located in Africa and Europe with the ambition of interacting together in favor of vulnerable communities victims of bad governance, climatic hazards, the imbalance between rural and urban areas, a mismatch between supply and demand for basic social services, etc. The network specializes in assisting people on the move by providing them with information likely to consequently reduce the risks associated with crossing the Sahara while ensuring that they take full responsibility for their destiny.
Ahmadou Atafa