Manufacturing Smugglers: From Irregular to Clandestine Mobility in the Sahara

Abstract

For decades, mobility between the Sahel and northern Africa was mostly irregular, but not clandestine. Most of the border crossings were supervised and (illegally) taxed by border police; everyone knew who did what with whom, and Saharan drivers were not thought of as smugglers of people. Starting in the early 2000s, European countries intervened, considering all trans-Saharan movements as a first step on a journey toward Europe, thus encouraging national authorities to stop them. This led to the tightening of border controls across northwest Africa. This article shows how the resulting criminalization of travel to and through the Sahara has led to the development of specialized passenger transport as a clandestine activity, resulting in an increase in the human and financial costs of those journeys. Thus, smugglers, as a particular category of actors, appear as directly manufactured by the migration policies that were drafted to control them.

Identifying the Factors Driving West African Migration

“…The media spotlight has focused on the large number of West African migrants passing through Niger on their way to Libya in hopes of reaching Europe. Yet, migration through Niger into North Africa is a long-standing tradition (Brachet, 2018). Since the end of colonial rule, migration has been considered a common household strategy to diffuse risk (e.g.…”

“…In the 2000s, President Muammar Gaddafi became an important partner of the European Union (EU) in fighting illegal migration (Raineri, 2018;Brachet, 2018). With his departure from power in 2011 and the ensuing chaos in Libya, many migrants saw an opening in their quest to reach Europe, and the number of sub-Saharan Africans transiting grew significantly (Figure 1).…”

West-African Modes of Mobilisations Confronting EU Mobility Regimes

“…The consequences of the restriction of intra-West-African movement that was common within the framework of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) is that many migration processes and employment opportunities in trade and transport become illegalised and communities lose their livelihood (BRACHET, 2018). Overall, it seems as if good governance is merely a pretence to securitise Europe's external borders.…”

“…Ironically, this securitisation generates the same migration and security problems, that the EU wants to inhibit, because former intra-regional migrants, traders and drivers might not find another resort than migrating to Europe or taking up weapons (BRACHET, 2018).…”

Contested externalisation: responses to global inequalities

“…The original smugglers were displaced by a new group of smugglers who nowadays take even more insecure roads through the Sahara to avoid border controls. In due course the Sahara has developed, as did the Mediterranean, into a 'mass grave' or a 'cemetery' (Brachet, 2018). In short, the control policies designed to reduce the dangers of illegal migration turned into drivers of the very process they are meant to combat.…”