Inside Mauritania’s Deportation Drive: Migrants Describe Raids, Extortion and Stranded Families

Inside Mauritania’s deportation campaign

Nouadhibou, Mauritania — When Omar* left rural Gambia in March at 29, he was seeking better pay in Mauritania’s northwest port city. He and four friends shared a one-room shack in Nouadhibou and found casual construction work that paid two to three times what he earned at home. As the eldest of nine and the son of a rice farmer, Omar could support his family and help pay school fees — until police and National Guard pick-ups began sweeping the city in August.

Widespread raids and shrinking livelihoods

Authorities carried out repeated raids on construction sites, shared compounds and streets in Nouadhibou, Nouakchott and border towns such as Rosso. Many migrants told Al Jazeera they were stopped, detained and deported even when holding valid documents. The Mauritanian Association for Human Rights (AMDH) estimated about 1,200 deportations in March alone, including roughly 700 people with residence permits. The government has not published comprehensive deportation figures.

'All the emotions I go through in one day are hard to explain,' Omar told Al Jazeera in early September.

Conditions in detention and allegations of abuse

Deportees and detainees described overcrowded holding centres, minimal food and restricted access to water and toilets. Several people reported extortion: guards or officers offering food, phone access or release in exchange for money, often at inflated prices. Accounts include physical violence during arrests, confiscation of personal money, and denial of time to retrieve documents or belongings.

Women and children have also been detained. Some families were separated during arrests; others were held together in poor conditions where basic medical care and nutrition were lacking, according to multiple testimonies.

Routes, deportation procedures and the junta with neighbouring states

Detainees told reporters they were transported by bus to detention centres in Nouakchott and then moved to border crossings such as Gogui (near Mali) or Rosso (Senegal). Some said they were chained together during journeys and fingerprinted at border posts before being released into port areas. Many deportees were left stranded at border crossings and forced to pay smugglers for clandestine transport by pirogue to reach the other side of the Senegal River.

Legal changes and international context

An amendment to Mauritania’s 1965 immigration law that came into force in October 2024 introduced automatic expulsion and re-entry bans of between one and ten years for foreign nationals convicted of immigration violations. Officials say the state has the right to enforce immigration rules. Rights groups, opposition politicians and migrants say the operation has been carried out in ways that violate human dignity and international protections.

Observers have also linked the crackdown’s timing to a February 2024 €210 million EU–Mauritania partnership on migration management, security and development. The European Commission says the package includes measures to protect human rights and maintain dialogue with Mauritania. Critics warn that EU efforts to externalise migration controls risk encouraging harsh enforcement that harms migrants.

Voices from those affected

Several detainees described repeated arrests, demands for bribes and being released only after employers intervened or paid officials. Others who were deported recounted being denied entry to Senegal despite holding IDs that should permit visa-free crossings, sometimes forcing them into risky clandestine journeys or leaving them stranded in limbo.

Back in The Gambia a week after his return, Omar expressed relief at being home but worry for his family’s finances: 'There’s no policeman chasing us here. You don’t have to look over your shoulder,' he said. 'But there is no cash and they don’t like it.' He plans to watch developments in Mauritania and return if conditions change.

Official responses

Al Jazeera contacted Mauritanian authorities responsible for the campaign — the government spokesman, the Gendarmerie and the Ministry of the Interior, Decentralisation and Local Development — but had not received replies at the time of publication. The European Commission reiterated that human-rights protections are central to its partnership and that it remains in ongoing dialogue with Mauritania.

*All interviewees requested single-name attribution for safety reasons.