Refugees in Niger: An Urgent Call from Agadez

Intro: No Money, Stuck in the Desert

by Migration-Control.Info

After the military coup in Niger, July 2023, the migration route through Agadez re-opened. In the following monthes, here was a short period of rising numbers of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

In this summer of 2023, the war in Sudan had just begun, and in Tunisia, the racist developments were gaining momentum, fired up by the MoU between Saied and European leaders. Especially Italy was very active, also dealing with the rulers in West- and East Libya. In the end, the number of push-backs increased, via Libya, but also Algeria is continuously pushing back black migrants.

All this has aggravated the situation in the UNHCR Camp in Agadez. In April this year, there was an Open Letter by Refugees in Libya, which recalled many protests in Agadez, since 2019:

1. In July 2019, minor refugees from the Agadez camp started a march into the desert towards the border of Libya.
2. From December 2019 until the beginning of January 2020, refugees from the Agadez camp assembled for a sit in protest outside the UNHCR office. This protest was ended by a police crack down and followed by facilities of the refugee camp set on fire. Several hundred refugees were arrested and 111 of them were sentenced in court, instead of providing solutions for the problems that had led to the protest.
3. Since autumn 2024, this has come to a head in a wave of protests that continues to this day, triggered by a serious deterioration in living conditions. The voice of the refugees is the self-organised groups “Refugees in Niger” and “Refugees in Tunisia”.

Regarding the Situation in Sudan, and especially Darfur, from where many of the refugees in the Agadez Camp have fled, the situation has gone worse and worse, since the war began in April 2023. The refugees from there have been stripped of all resources, like those who have been pushed back out of the Maghreb. They have no money, and are stuck in the desert. There is a UNHCR resettlement section in the camp, but these refugees have no place where they could go to.

In August 21st, Refugees in Libya have published a report about violently arresting 6 Human Right Defenders in the Agadez Camp. We have now received the following call by the refugees, and want to amplify their voices.

The Call from Agadez

by Refugees in Niger

The situation had escalated since the beginning of our peaceful protest here in the Agadez Humanitarian Center.

After the continued worsening of conditions in the center and the ongoing violations by UNHCR staff and partner organizations inside the camp, we decided to organize a peaceful sit-in in front of the UNHCR office, to demand a dignified life and a future for our children.

The peaceful protest began on 22 September 2024 in order to achieve our demands, because we want a dignified life and lasting solutions. But we faced many challenges, threats, intimidation, attempts to sow division among us, and efforts to dismantle our unity. UNHCR staff cut off food, and the threats continued until the imprisonment of eight people—four men and four women—who were our representatives. The government forces detained them for 10 days from 25 March to 04 April 2025. This arrest was supported by UNHCR, as Mr. Arzuqa (UNHCR’s Resettlement S ection) said later on.

^{355 days in the camp}

Because of the peaceful sit-in, within one month six people died due to medical negligence. In the past months, some refugees left the humanitarian center and never returned, overwhelmed by the pressure inside the camp exercised by UNHCR and its partners. Which had caused them severe psychological distress and led them to abandon the center altogether.

On Wednesday, 16 July 2025, the CNE ( National Elections Commission, local state authority), with approval from the UNHCR revoked the refugee status of our eight representatives who had been imprisoned unjustly earlier.

Then came another dangerous threat from the CNE office, who entered the camp accompanied by two armed men in a terrifying manner, threatening a large number of refugees to intimidate them and to arrest the eight again. They set a deadline, saying if the eight did not present themselves by the appointed time, they would be taken by force. This took place on Thursday, 7 August 2025 at 3 p.m. The threats happened inside homes, frightening the children.

After this, on the 21st of August 2025, the police and gendarmerie stormed the camp with many vehicles, accompanied by four CNE officials: Mr. M.K., the deputy director; Mr. Noah from the protection section; interpreter Adam; and interpreter Abdulrahim.

^Photo:RiL

They arrested again six of the representatives by force, three women and three young men. They had no arrest warrants and gave no reason for the arrests. They broke into homes, smashed doors, terrified children and women, and drove through the camp at high speed, creating panic. They were looking for the refugee Omar Libana, one of the eight whose refugee status had been revoked, but he escaped from the center in fear. Until now he has not returned, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

The authorities said openly that they had the names of all activists in the camp, and another list of refugees to be arrested at any time. They also said they were monitoring anyone who published posts on social media. Meanwhile UNHCR has done nothing about this situation, and has given no clarification until now.

The six arrested refugees are:

Mohamed Abdullah

Imad Younes

Abdullah Hashim

Zubaida Abdeljabbar

Huda Mohamed

Zahra Daoud

All of the arrested women are mothers. Huda has five small children, Zahra has three children, and Zubaida has one minor child. Zubaida is also a widow. These women were arrested in front of their children without mercy; they did not commit any crime, only because they demanded their rights and the rights of their children to live with dignity.

On the morning after their arrest, we sent two refugees to the police station in the city to find out where they were. At first we found them in the police station. Later that same day at 1 p.m., we sent food through another refugee, but by then the six were no longer there. When we asked about their whereabouts, the authorities only replied that they had been transferred, but did not say where.

Days later, staff from the NGO COPI (working on psychological support) and Red Germany (working on protection of women, children, and people with chronic illnesses) visited the homes of the detained women and said they wanted to provide aid such as food supplies to their children. They told the families that the six detained refugees were “not refugees,” and that is why they only came to provide some aid. But the children said clearly that they wanted nothing except their mothers. The representative of Red Germany, Mrs. Zainab, promised she would report the situation to higher authorities and then left immediately.

None of them considered the severe psychological impact on the children who saw their mothers taken in front of them. UNHCR meanwhile only stood by watching while the refugees’ rights were violated.

At the same time, CNE staff, together with a few weak-hearted refugees, spread rumors in the camp, especially targeting the children of the detained women, to frighten and destabilize them. Refugees testified that some CNE staff, especially interpreter Adam, came to the camp at night to monitor our movements and activities.

On 2 September 2025, UNHCR staff and their partner organizations held a meeting in the camp. There were two UNHCR staff and several from partner organizations. When asked about the six detained refugees, they said that they had been handed over to the Chadian government in the presence of UNHCR in Chad, and added that these six were “criminals.”

In this situation, we asked who was responsible for us in the camp. Mr. Arzuqa from UNHCR’s resettlement section replied that it is the Nigerien government who is responsible for us and for everything in the camp. He also said that concerning the children of the detained women, negotiations were underway with UNHCR, and if an agreement was reached, the children would be deported to join their mothers.

In recent days, new faces have appeared in the camp, apparently new UNHCR staff. Four people—three men and one woman—were seen wearing UNHCR badges, always accompanied by CNE staff or older UNHCR staff, but they did not introduce themselves and the refugees do not know who they are.

All of this proves the depth of UNHCR’s involvement in violations against us: Refugees in Niger. Every act of repression carried out by the Nigerien government against refugees in the camp has happened with the agreement of UNHCR in Agadez. This is clear from how their staff avoids answering refugee’s questions and evades their responsibilities.

So from inside the camp we, the refugees, say to all authorities and bodies that claim humanity: where are you? Where are you while we live in terror, in fear of this immense force that knows no humanity and no mercy?

How long must we continue in this suffering?

We say clearly: we do not want to remain here. Please help us.

Ladies and Gentlemen, look at these vulnerable refugees. We ask you to carry our voices, our messages, our cries of pain from inside the camp to every responsible authority. We are forgotten. We are afraid. We are in danger. Please help us. We do not want to stay here.

In August 2025, a report has been published on theRefugees in Libya Website. The report on the latest developments has been written by Refugees in Niger.

Refigees in Libya has just published an Book on UNHCR (in)activiies: The Book of Shame.