Last year, Niger did what very few countries have done: it repealed a law criminalising the smuggling of migrants, making many smuggling businesses legal again. This happened after a military coup deposed the Nigerien president in July 2023 and the EU suspended its support to the country, which had included tens of millions of euros for fighting terror threats and combating irregular migration.
Several months later, in November 2023, the eight-year-old law was repealed, and many smuggling businesses that had been forced to underground could operate in the open again.
In the last decade, Niger has become an important focal point for the EU’s border externalisation and border control policies. At the same time, migration policies have also become the litmus test for the relationship between the EU and Niger.
