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 buddies, and located work as an off-the-cuff labourer on development websites, incomes two to 3 instances greater than he had again residence.
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The oldest of 9 youngsters 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 vehicles 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 focusing on properties. They got here day and evening – breaking down doorways if these inside didn’t reply instantly.
One night, police swept by Omar’s compound. He and his buddies escaped by fleeing over the rooftops, however with nowhere else to go, they returned later that evening.
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 buddy who would sneak by the backstreets to a close-by estuary at the hours of darkness.
“All of the feelings I’m going by in sooner or later are onerous to elucidate,” Omar informed 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. A lot 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 had 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 based on a press release 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 12 months.
The federal government has not publicly detailed the scope and goals of its deportation marketing campaign. However in Could, Inside Minister Mohamad Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine informed 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 had been to be given ample meals and water, entry to medical providers, and had been allowed to maintain their private possessions, he added.
Earlier, in March, authorities spokesman Medou insisted that “stories of current deportations had been exaggerated,” referring to accounts circulating on social media websites.
After the mass deportations began this 12 months, some consultants famous that comparable campaigns had additionally taken place in Mauritania in 2009 and 2012, albeit at a smaller scale. Nevertheless, 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 abilities, entrepreneurship … and strengthening entry to socioeconomic providers for refugees, asylum seekers and host communities”, a European Fee (EC) spokesperson informed Al Jazeera in a written assertion.
Nevertheless, 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 explicit curiosity due to its proximity to Spain’s Canary Islands. A 2025 report from Spain’s Nationwide Safety Division said that in 2024, 25,081 individuals departed from Mauritania’s shores for the archipelago – greater than half of the islands’ 46,843 complete irregular arrivals that 12 months. A couple 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 needed to remain in Mauritania to work and ship cash residence to their households.
In October 2024, an modification to Mauritania’s 1965 immigration regulation got here into drive. The modification legislated that any international nationwide convicted of not abiding by immigration laws, notably these coming into or residing within the nation illegally, could be “routinely expelled” and banned from re-entry for a interval of 1 to 10 years.
A couple of months later, in a speech to parliament, Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Djay described “the battle towards 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 had 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.
Nevertheless, rights teams, opposition politicians and migrants paint a special 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 beneath 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. A lot of them discover work in development, fishing, or different sectors of 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 onerous to return by, in 2020, the Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM) estimated town’s migrant inhabitants at 32,000, a few fifth of the full.
For Nouadhibou’s migrants, the arrests have created concern and confusion.
An Ivorian development employee in his mid-20s informed Al Jazeera that he had been arrested thrice in lower than per 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 had 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 had been taken to a neighborhood police station earlier than being launched when their boss on the development website paid a bribe.
The third time, he was on a big development website close to Nouadhibou airport when it was raided by police, who arrested greater than 60 males with out paperwork. A few of these had 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 had 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 informed 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 serious blow to the livelihoods of Nouadhibou’s migrant staff. “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 won’t 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 telephone was slapped out of his hand, shattering the display screen.
“I’ve to go to work,” he protested as he was handcuffed. He mentioned the officer informed him, “You possibly can go exploit your personal 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 had been arrested of their properties describe not being permitted to take their possessions with them.
Youssouf*, a 22-year-old Guinean working in a sardine manufacturing facility, mentioned he requested for a second to get his delivery certificates and faculty diploma when police broke down the door of his shack, however was informed, “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 provide to carry meals from retailers at extortionate costs. “If the worth 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 needed to make a telephone name to the Gambian embassy in Nouakchott. The 11 Gambians he was in detention with had been in a position to pool $13 to make use of a guard’s telephone. The decision failed, however they had 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 had been informed to urinate into empty water bottles.
‘I cried, however the police didn’t hear’
Whereas the deportation marketing campaign has largely focused males, ladies and kids 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 supposed to purchase drugs for her one-year-old daughter, who was sick with extreme diarrhoea.
When she protested that her two daughters had been at residence – one in pressing want of drugs – she mentioned she was informed, “This isn’t the time to 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 telephone name to a neighbour, who introduced her youngsters to the ability. For the subsequent two days, they had 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 he or she and her youngsters had been launched. That very same day, she left voluntarily for Senegal to reunite together with her husband, who had been deported some months earlier.
Others stay separated from their youngsters. Oumar*, a 22-year-old Guinean migrant, now in Senegal, was arrested together with his spouse as they went to purchase meals, whereas their four-year-old daughter stayed at residence.
“I defined the whole lot, I cried, however the police didn’t hear,” he informed Al Jazeera from his non permanent 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 services in Nouakchott, from the place they’re subsequently despatched both to Gogui, Mauritania’s border crossing with Mali, or Rosso.
Detainees informed Al Jazeera they’re typically chained to at least one one other in the course of the journey.
Amadou*, a 19-year-old Guinean now in Senegal, described how a policeman, desiring 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 onerous {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 watch for a ferry to take them to the Senegalese border put up on the opposite facet 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 facet of the river requested. When Omar and his buddies acknowledged that that they had been, they had been informed to return to Mauritania.
Caught on the Senegalese border put up, they waited till the useless of evening, once they as a substitute paid for a pirogue to smuggle them to a distant drop-off level within the bush on the Senegalese facet of the river.
These missing legitimate paperwork – typically left of their Mauritanian properties as a result of police didn’t permit for his or her assortment – recounted comparable experiences.
Youssouf was trapped on the Mauritanian border put up till his buddies pooled about $9 to assist him pay for the pirogue to Senegal. Underneath the quilt of darkness, the pirogue took him to a distant marshland a couple of kilometres downstream of the border put up throughout the river. From there, he waded by 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 buddies spoke to Al Jazeera, they had been arrested by Senegalese police and despatched again to the no-man’s land on the Mauritanian facet of the river. There, they had 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 buddies circumvented Rosso by distant bush roads, coming into the freeway after the final police checkpoint outdoors town. From there, they took a collection of shared taxis in the 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 Growth, which is liable for the marketing campaign and answerable 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’
Talking to Al Jazeera in late September, per week after his return to The Gambia, Omar expressed blended feelings.
“There’s no policeman chasing us right here. You don’t should 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 colleges are opening, and my household is asking, ‘The place is the bag of rice?’” he mentioned. “There isn’t any money they usually 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 a detailed 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 certainly one of their names be used for security causes.
