Smuggling of Migrants in the Sahel

Key takeaways

• Counter-smuggling eff orts, in particular the implementation of strict migrant smuggling laws, appear to have contributed to the emergence of new smuggling routes connecting the Niger and Libya, as well as emerging migrant smuggling hubs in southern Algeria. Smuggling routes in the Sahel have become more clandestine and diverse in an attempt to evade increasing controls by the defence and security forces, exposing refugees and migrants to greater risks and dangers.

• Even refugees and migrants with valid travel documents may use smugglers to avoid the diffi culties, delays and costs associated with legal procedures, and the costs associated with crossing a border or checkpoint. Corruption is not only a motivation for refugees and migrants to use smugglers but also a key enabler of migrant smuggling in the Sahel.

• Making a profi t is the main motivation for engaging in the smuggling of migrants. Economic reasons are another important motive for becoming a smuggler, spurred at times by the example of family, friends or acquaintances. Smugglers are also motivated by requests for help and a desire to aid refugees and migrants.

• Although migrant smuggling is often a sideline activity, it pays well. Incomes vary greatly but smugglers surveyed reported making an average monthly income of roughly $1,500, well above typical incomes in the Sahel countries. Smugglers’ fees have been on the rise in Mali and the Niger since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic because of the increased risk, including of controls by the authorities, and the resulting higher cost of providing smuggling services. An increase in demand for smuggling services has also contributed to rising smuggling fees.

• Few smugglers work alone. The majority work with two or more people and cooperate frequently with others, although the nature of their work and their operating environment suggests that group organization is rarely rigid.

• The migrant smuggling business is multifaceted, even at the individual level. The vast majority of smugglers surveyed reported having multiple responsibilities in the smuggling process, with an overall average of four responsibilities each. Many of them also work in multiple countries: almost half of the smugglers surveyed operate in more than one country and one in fi ve do so in four or more countries.

• Some refugees and migrants are subjected to exploitation and abuse during their migration journey through the Central Sahel, whether or not that journey is undertaken with smugglers. However, smugglers are less frequently cited as being perpetrators of exploitation and abuse than border offi cials, security forces, armed groups and criminal gangs.

• Refugees and migrants in the Sahel can fall victim to abuse and human rights violations, including traffi cking in persons and gender-based violence. Yet while the majority of surveyed refugees and migrants who used smugglers are adult men, the risk of exploitation and abuse during the smuggling journey appears to be greater for women and children.

• Connections exist between armed groups and migrant smuggling in the Sahel countries. This appears to be the case in Chad and Mali in particular. In Mali, although some smugglers are affi liated with armed groups, those groups do not generally engage directly in migrant smuggling. Rather, they tend to extract money from the activity through their control of territory, either by levying fees on passage or by providing paid escorts.

• Some smugglers in the Sahel do not limit their criminal activity to migrant smuggling. Migrant smuggling networks in the region may engage in other illicit activities. Among other things, traffi cking in persons for sexual exploitation and forced labour, which is often linked to gold-mining, has been reported in Burkina Faso and Mali in particular, as have drugs and fi rearms traffi cking in the Niger.