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A few outlets, including @AirInfoAgadez, reported that the authorities of Niger repealed (formally unclear how) law 36/2015 on migrant smuggling, which had become a symbol of Europe's unpopular meddling into Niger's affairs. A short 🧵 airinfoagadez.com/2023/11/27/mig…
1 - Adopted in 2015 under Europe's pressure, the law on the "illicit traffic of migrants" was drafted with support from the EU & @UNODC (funded by Italy and Denmark). The idea was to curb movements South of Libya: the Sahara was the new Mediterranean. justice.gouv.ne/images/lois/pd…
2 - Niger began applying the law after 2016 elections. Mahamadou's presidency was confirmed & then minister of Interior Bazoum became the EU's main intelocutor. A whole economy in the Saharan region of Agadez was criminalized one day in Sept. 2016. openmigration.org/en/analyses/th…
3 - I spent many months in Niger from 2016 to 2019 and had a chance to dig into the consequences of a securitarian, neocolonial approach, writing a set of articles & contributing to research. See this long read with @daniel_howden for @refugeesdeeply deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/refugees/artic…
4 - Or this story from Agadez, built on long discussions with women working in the "migration business", done with @FrancescoBellin, for @AlJazeeraWorld aljazeera.com/features/2019/…
5 - Or, again, this report on the key ingredient of the EU cooperation with Niger - fighting smugglers - and the technology and funds involved, for @privacyint privacyinternational.org/long-read/3347…
6 - Some "migration actors" (drivers, ghetto owners, car owners, brokers) greeted the July 26 coup and are likely happier with the news, which appears as a way to put pressure on the EU. What's next?
7 - Too early to know. In line with similar hypocritical positioning, with deadly consequences (see the sealing of the Belarus-Poland border), a Sept. 2023 @EUCouncil document envisaged "risks of instrumentalization" by Niger's new rulers. 
8 - But the EU can't build a wall in the Sahara (some wish they could) like Poland did. Italy & Germany are carving themselves a new position to be able to stay in Niger, with security and migration aims, and they will try negotiating on the matter. We need to keep an eye on it.
9 - Update: head of the Regional council of Agadez, former armed rebellion leader Mohamed Anacko, greets " the beneficial initiative" to rescind law 36. airinfoagadez.com/2023/11/27/nig…
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