Mauritania illegally deporting migrants into Senegal

Mauritania is deporting sub-Saharan migrants illegally at the Senegalese border, NGOs and the Senegalese authorities have warned. 

According to RFI on March 19th, pushbacks are taking place 380 km away from Dakar, in the city of Rosso that borders the river that separates both countries, leaving migrants to take refuge in the red cross branch of the city.

Mbaye Diop, the director of the center says the association is helpless, as forty migrants – mainly Senegalese, but also Guinean, Gambian and Sierra Leonean –  just turned up to the camp the day before. 

“Many migrants came here to ask for help, but we have little means. We can give them water, do their laundry, but it’s hard for everyone”, he says.

International aid to the Red Cross branch of Rosso has stopped since 2019, he adds.

Many migrants have reported being victims of mistreatment from the Mauritanian authorities. Diallo, a Guinean that landed in Rosso three days ago, says he was arrested while buying food in Nouakchott. 

“They ask you if you are a stranger. If you say you are, they’ll arrest you. We were locked there for three days”, adding that there is no access to food for those who cannot pay for it. 

Camara, another Guinean, says she was deported despite being pregnant and caring for her two-year old daughter. She was also arrested and spent a week in prison, where she concurred about the absence of food and the frequent beatings of male detainees. 

She found refuge in Rosso with other deportees living in a front house yard. All of them say they have been mistreated.  

Cheikh Gueye, The Mayor of Rosso, regrets the city’s inability to help the refugees.

“It’s an international scourge. As members of the CEDEAO (Western African States Economic Community), it is our duty to assist those people, but there is not much more we can do, as the city has no budget to tackle the issue”. 

Meanwhile, refugees must count on the inhabitants and the shopkeeper’s solidarity for water and food.

RFI