Thousands of migrants stranded in Niger desert town after being deported from Algeria: MSF
- ‘Unparalleled emergency situation that requires urgent humanitarian response’, aid group says, after people expelled and abandoned
- ‘Temperatures in Assamaka can reach 48 degrees Celsius [118 degrees F], so people seek refuge from the heat wherever they can find it’
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) denounced Thursday the abandoning of thousands of migrants expelled by Algeria into northern Niger and called on the West African bloc ECOWAS to intervene.
Many of those expelled were struggling to find shelter in a region where temperatures can rise as high as 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit), the aid group warned.
“Thousands of migrants deported from Algeria and abandoned in the desert of northern Niger are stranded without access to shelter, healthcare, protection or basic necessities,” MSF said in a statement.
In all, 4,677 migrants had arrived on foot between January 11 and March 3 at Assamaka, in Niger’s Agadez region, it added.
Fewer than 15 per cent of them were able to access shelter or protection when they arrived and the local health centre is already overwhelmed, MSF said.
“This is an unparalleled situation that requires an urgent humanitarian response from the ECOWAS, from where the majority of these people are from,” said Jamal Mrrouch, the MSF Head of Mission in Niger.