"Niger is a key transit point for Sub-Saharian migration, and its central cities have been a common stopover for migrants and refugees passing through the country since a long time.
In many scenarios, the original plan for many migrants is to go to Europe and, for the ones that are not able to accomplish it, the journey ends in the city of Agadez, known as “ the desert entrance”. Since 2016, the road to Europe is no longer accessible and the Niger government began implementing a law criminalizing the transport of migrants. Soldiers have been posted throughout the desert roads and smugglers are being jailed while Algeria, the border country of the Sahara Desert, is toughening the migration laws often sending back to the desert the migrants not welcomed in the country.
In their long and perilous journeys to their destinations, an unknown number have died from hunger and thirst, abandoned by smugglers or migration guards in the Sahara Desert.
Today, the city of Agadez has a new face. There is a small visible back and forth movement of smugglers' cars carrying migrants. Things have changed since August 2016 but the city remains a transit zone for migrants. Many have recently chosen to remain there for the time being. Many others still hope to continue and find a way to go to Europe while others have already tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe but got caught on the way on and sent back. Returning to their country is not an option for many who transit through Niger. Going back means shame." E.C.

Magnum photographer Enri Canaj photographed Agadez and its migration transit.

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