Niger has been on Africa's migration route for centuries, and particularly the Agadez region. In recent years, travellers heading north have been joined by thousands of people moving south, either expelled from Algeria or returning from Libya.
Far from stopping the flow of people, the recent criminalisation of migration by both European and non-European governments has significantly increased the vulnerability of people on the move, whether they are migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, traders or seasonal workers. Forced to avoid the usual routes, people are taking more dangerous ones - across the Ténéré desert and the Aïr Mountains - putting them at risk of exploitation and violence.
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