EU migration management in the Sahel: unintended consequences on the ground in Niger?

ABSTRACT

The policies implemented in the Sahel by the EU and individual member states have reduced the number of migrants transiting through the region towards Europe. However, the sustainability of this approach should be questioned as it may also increase domestic tensions in politically fragile and administratively weak states, leading to increased pressure on political and social systems that already are struggling to stay afloat. Thus, whereas making a country like Niger an integral part of European migration management may seem successful, the approach of the EU may also have several unintended consequences. This paper will critically examine the EU’s crisis response towards the Sahel with a particular focus on Niger and the city of Agadez, arguing that while EU’s approach may have reduced the number of migrants passing through Agadez, it could also come to undermine a number of local compromises that so far have helped Niger display higher resilience towards the crises that are quickly destabilising neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali.

KEYWORDS:

• migration and refugees
• aid and capital flows
• EU
• North Africa
• conflict and security

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by Norges Forskningsråd.

Notes on contributors

Morten Bøås

Morten Bøås is a Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). He works on peace, conflict and international interventions in Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, and his latest published books include Africa’s Insurgents: Navigating an Evolving Landscape (2017, with Kevin Dunn) and Doing Fieldwork in Areas of International Intervention: a Guide to Research in Violent and Closed Contexts (2020, with Berit Bliesemann de Guevara).