Niger 4b case study

Niger 4b case study

1. What its known for

   • Smuggling
     • Dismantling networks of intermediaries, drivers, guides, migrant welcome centres and clandestine migration conultants would place the regional economy of agadez under significant stress
   • The routes African migrants take to reach the Libyan coast form a web across the continent (see map) along which are strung safe houses, brokers and drivers, loosely linked by personal connections. Many pass through Agadez in northern Niger, the last settlement before the Sahara desert. it was founded a millennium ago for caravans of camels carrying salt and gold to west Africa. Now its trade is in people.
     • Libya became popular with sub-Saharan Africans in 2012 thanks to Syrian refugees who travelled to Libya through Egypt. They were much richer than the locals, and it was their demand that created the trafficking networks. When their numbers fell, smugglers turned to Libya’s resident population of sub-Saharan Africans to maintain demand, and then to recruiters in west Africa to bring more. Yet unlike Syrians, sub-Saharan Africans cannot pay much.

2. Political status

3. Data

   • Birth rate
   • Death rate
   • Gross enrolment 2014: 70.6
   • GNI: $390 2015
   • Population: 17.83 million 2013
   • Life expectancy: 57.97 years (2012)
   • Fertility rate: 7.57 births per woman (2012) World Bank

4. Factors

   • Push
     • Surrounding countries at war
       • Casamance (Senegal). The armed conflict between the rebels seeking independence and the army has caused his family to lose their farming lands and with them the means to make a living. He is hoping to reach Italy and get a job that will allow him to support his family.
     • Poor living conditionsIn surrounding countries
       • e.g nigeria
     • Political corruption in surrounding countries
   • Pull
     • unawarness
       • Others do not know that Libya is at war, or that they will have to travel across the desert. And many do not understand that in Europe they may not have the right to work or attend school.
     • location
       • (central leads to either Libya settlment at Sabha or Melilla in Algeria
         • migration specifically to europe is popul
     • Laws
       • Until recently, people-smuggling went on quite openly in Agadez, says Mr Miango. Most of the migrants could come to Niger legally, as citizens of the Economic Community of West African States. They would arrive at the bus station, collect money at the bank and hire smugglers. After a few days in a ghetto they would leave.
         • Since August Niger’s government has been enforcing a law passed last year that criminalises people-smuggling, and departures for Libya recorded by the IOM have dropped off. In September it registered around 27,000 desert crossings, down from a peak of 72,000 in May.

5. Costs and benefits

   • Costs
     • Niger (specifically Agadez) now has a bad reputation associated with smuggling
     • Area is now reliant on this industry. (its illegal)
   • Benefits
     • Money can be made from people smuggling (around $25,000 a week) average wage is $400.
       • This can also have a trickle down effect.migrants have to pay to get through checkpoints, or for resources like water to get through the dessert. those who cannot afford to pay can also be sent to be work (unfair trade)