Niger: Migration Routes Reorganize (2/5)

RFI offers you this week, a series of reports on the changes of the city of Agadez.

(central Niger), which tries to turn its back on illegal emigration to Europe. Located at the gateway to the Ténéré desert, Agadez once attracted many tourists, desert lovers. Then insecurity put a stop to this economy. The disappearance of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has favored the opening of a new route of migration: the Libyan coast. Agadez has thus become a strategic passage. The economy has gradually recovered thanks to a growing demand: migrants who want to brave the desert to settle in Europe, crossing the desert. Due to the application of the law repressing the smuggling of migrants, Agadez has gradually emptied of its migrants. The slowness of smuggling programs is fueling a climate of expectation. And impatience. So many smugglers prefer to take the risk of maintaining their activities, while waiting to find a job that is just as lucrative.