As anti-migrant sentiment rises across Europe, citizens of sub-Saharan Africa trying to reach the continent are being pushed back by North African governments in proportions unseen in years. Last month, for example, Libya deported more than 600 men from Niger.
The E.U. has signed bilateral agreements with Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania that include financial support to curb migrant flows. The strategy appears to be working: Illegal border crossings dropped sharply in 2024, according to recent data.
But rights groups say that the methods being used to keep sub-Saharan migrants from traveling to Europe include well-documented human rights violations, such as abandoning migrants in the Sahara without food or water or keeping them in North African prisons.
