Smuggled through Niger

Smuggled through Niger

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Migrants sit on the back of a truck as it makes its way along a dusty street in the desert town of Agadez, a major transit point on the people-smuggling route to Europe.

While some 2,000 people have died attempting to traverse the Mediterranean so far this year, the International Organization for Migration warns that at least as many migrants may die during the long desert crossing from Niger, the main staging post for West Africans seeking to make the journey to Europe.

. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Smuggling has long been a way of life in the ancient caravan town. The streets are full of cars stolen from Libya, whose borders are largely unsecured, and locals speak in hushed tones of drug convoys that cross the desert.

With the collapse of foreign tourism due to the rise of armed Islamist groups in the Sahara, smugglers say there is nothing much else they can do to earn money.

. Akintunde Akinleye

"It's a bit frightening but I have to deal with it because in life you have to be brave," said migrant Fousseni Ismael, 16, as he waited to board a truck.

Despite Niger's passage of a tough new law against people trafficking, some 100,000 migrants fleeing desperate poverty at home in hope of a better life in Europe are expected to cross the West African state's borders this year. Many will pass through smugglers compounds known as "ghettos".

. Akintunde Akinleye

Many of the ghettos where migrants stay lie in dirty backstreets, in squat houses behind red mud walls with no windows, only metal gates that occasionally offer glimpses of young men inside.

As they prepare for the next leg of their journey migrants scramble onto a white Toyota Hilux, jostling for a place on the 1,200-km drive to Sabha in southern Libya - a route plagued by bandits and the pitiless desert sun.

Nineteen men pack into the truck for the three-day ride. Those on the edge sit astride a long wooden stick, to prevent them falling off during the night into the Sahara.

. Akintunde Akinleye.

As night falls, the pickup rolls out of the metal gates of the compound and snakes through the sandy backstreets of Agadez. It drives unhindered past a police checkpoint on the outskirts of town and into the blackness of the vast desert.

The risks are high. Mohamed, a driver, said he was attacked last week by Touareg bandits wielding AK-47 assault rifles who opened fire on his pickup when he refused to stop, wounding a migrant in the leg.

. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

The death of 92 migrants from thirst - mostly women and children - when their vehicle broke down en route to Algeria, to Libya's west, in 2013 prompted authorities to briefly crack down on the corridor - but the lucrative trade quietly returned.

"The desert has always been a cemetery for immigrants, in silence and complete indifference. Travellers tell us they often find bodies - skeletons ravaged by the sands," said Agadez Mayor Rhissa Feltou.

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Slideshow

A picture of the Agadez minaret is painted on the door of a building.
. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

A picture of the Agadez minaret is painted on the door of a building.

People walk past a hotel near the main market.
. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

People walk past a hotel near the main market.

A girl walks past sticks that will be used for building.
. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A girl walks past sticks that will be used for building.

Sandles are seen at the entrance of an Islamic school.
. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Sandles are seen at the entrance of an Islamic school.

28-year-old Sanoussi sits for a portrait at a local immigration transit centre.
. Akintunde Akinleye

28-year-old Sanoussi sits for a portrait at a local immigration transit centre.

24-year-old Bouso Mammadou, who is Nigerian, poses for a portrait.
. Akintunde Akinleye

24-year-old Bouso Mammadou, who is Nigerian, poses for a portrait.

19-year-old Seidou, who is Nigerian, poses for a photograph.
. Akintunde Akinleye

19-year-old Seidou, who is Nigerian, poses for a photograph.

19-year-old Nassirou, who is Nigerian, sits for a photograph.
. Akintunde Akinleye

19-year-old Nassirou, who is Nigerian, sits for a photograph.

19-year-old Baroo sits for a portrait.
. Akintunde Akinleye

19-year-old Baroo sits for a portrait.

17-year-old Mounssirou Alassaane, who is a tailor from Benin, sits for a portrait.
. Akintunde Akinleye

17-year-old Mounssirou Alassaane, who is a tailor from Benin, sits for a portrait.

18-year-old Naossirou sits for a portrait.
. Akintunde Akinleye

18-year-old Naossirou sits for a portrait.

15-year-old Idriss Alassaane, an apprentice mechanic from Benin, sits for a portrait.
. Akintunde Akinleye

15-year-old Idriss Alassaane, an apprentice mechanic from Benin, sits for a portrait.

Migrants from Benin sleep on mats.
. Akintunde Akinleye

Migrants from Benin sleep on mats.

A migrant puts on his shoes.
. Akintunde Akinleye.

A migrant puts on his shoes.

Migrants queue to get onto the back of a truck.
. Akintunde Akinleye.

Migrants queue to get onto the back of a truck.

Containers filled with water are wrapped in wet sacks to keep them cool.
. Akintunde Akinleye.

Containers filled with water are wrapped in wet sacks to keep them cool.

A migrant holds a container of water wrapped with a wet sack as he sits at the back of a truck.
. Akintunde Akinleye.

A migrant holds a container of water wrapped with a wet sack as he sits at the back of a truck.

Migrants sit on the back of a truck.
. Akintunde Akinleye.

Migrants sit on the back of a truck.

. AGADEZ, NIGER. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye