On 31 July, Chatham House published a research paper by Peter Tinti titled ‘Tackling the Niger–Libya migration route’. The paper looks at how armed conflict and insecurity in post-2011 Libya have turned the city of Agadez in neighbouring Niger into ‘the preeminent transit hub for West African migrants trying to reach Libya and Europe’. Tinti argues that although Niger’s criminalization of Agadez’s migration economy disrupted migrant flows through the route, it pushed people-smuggling networks underground, placing migrants at greater risk, and accelerating a transition to other economic activities, including burgeoning gold mining and illegal activities in the region. The paper also demonstrates how using a comprehensive systems analysis can help policymakers understand the broader factors that influence and impact the migration economy in Niger.
Read the full paper here.