Solidarity against the EU border regime in the Sahara - With Azizou Chehou and Moctar Dan Yayé from Niger

They addressed, among others, the following topics:

• "Emergency rescue in the desert" by natives of the Bilma region active with APS & search for missing persons in the Sahara en route to Libya,
• Documentation of the increasing mass deportations from Algeria & solidarity work on site in Assamaka,
• collective kitchen for refugees and migrants in Agadez
• daily struggle against corruption, repression & criminalisation suffered by APS activists for their solidarity work,
• Complaint to the Court of Justice of the West African Union against the law "2015 -036", pushed by the EU, which criminalizes regional migration,
• Consequences of climate change: policy work in the context of rising desert temperatures & almost permanent power cuts.

The borders that European states erect against migrants and refugees are no longer limited to the EU's external borders, but extend far beyond, including across many countries on the African continent. This repressive border regime creates life-threatening conditions and leaves people to die not only in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, but also on the travel routes through the Sahel countries and North Africa. It leads to brutal mass deportations between African countries and the internment of migrants and refugees in torture camps in Libya. It also means that thousands of people who have no way forward are stranded empty-handed and in precarious conditions in countries like Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world. Circular migration, which has historically existed, particularly in and between West and North Africa, is thus increasingly restricted. As a result, this EU-imposed policy in the colonial tradition is destroying the economic livelihoods and thus the lives of the inhabitants of various regions in many places.

Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) is practicing solidary intervention against this brutal EU border regime in Agadez and other places in northern Niger. During their information tour, Moctar Dan Yayé and Azizou Chehou from APS Niger will talk about the current context and developments in Niger regarding the repressive migration policy and their daily work.

                                                                                11.07.2022, 20:00, Freiburg / Germany

                                                                            Venue: Youth Centre, Uhlandstraße 2, Freiburg