Nigerien army rescues 50 migrants in distress in the desert

The Nigerien army has rescued 50 migrants, including 20 women and 12 children, in distress in the northern Niger desert near the Libyan border. The migrants received emergency medical care after being evacuated to a scarce water source in the area.

Fifty migrants “in distress” were rescued over the weekend in the desert north of Niger near the Libyan border, a crossing point on the road to Europe, the Nigerien army announced Sunday.

Les 50 migrants dont 20 femmes et 12 enfants, étaient «en détresse sous des conditions climatiques extrêmes» lorsque le véhicule qui les transportait est tombé en panne, vendredi, a précisé l’armée dans son dernier bulletin des opérations. C’est un détachement de la Brigade d’intervention rapide des militaires qui leur a «porté secours» dans la zone nigérienne de Djado, à environ 200km de la frontière libyenne, a-t-elle indiqué. Les migrants ont reçu les «soins d’urgence» après leur évacuation vers le «puits de l’espoir», un point d’eau rarissime dans cette région où les voyageurs et des milliers de migrants font souvent escale dans leur périlleuse traversée du désert. L’armée ne précise pas les nationalités des 50 personnes, qui se dirigeaient vers la Libye.

The 50 migrants, including 20 women and 12 children, were “in distress under extreme weather conditions” when the vehicle transporting them broke down on Friday, the army said in its latest operations bulletin. A detachment from the military’s Rapid Intervention Brigade “rescued” them in the Nigerien region of Djado, about 200km from the Libyan border, it said. The migrants received “emergency care” after being evacuated to the “well of hope,” a rare water source in this region where travelers and thousands of migrants often stop over during their perilous desert crossing. The army did not specify the nationalities of the 50 people, who were heading towards Libya.

In 2024, more than 31,000 migrants were expelled from Algeria to neighboring Niger, according to the Nigerien NGO Alarme Phone Sahara (APS), which cited a record figure. In January 2025, 770 Nigerien migrants, including around sixty children, were expelled from Libya, the army reported. They were escorted by a military escort on the Niger side, and their reception was coordinated by the army and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In November 2023, Niger’s new military regime, which came to power in a coup a few months earlier, repealed a 2015 law criminalizing migrant smuggling.

Since then, “many people have been moving freely” along the migration routes “without fear of the reprisals” they previously faced, according to APS. The NGO regularly denounces the “violent” and even “fatal” treatment of West African migrants during pushback operations carried out by Algeria and Libya towards Niger.

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