Defense Minister: Mauritania migrant influx at 'critical' level

The number of refugees fleeing Sahel insecurity for Mauritania has hit "a critical threshold," ramping up illegal migration to Spain and beyond in Europe, Hanena Ould Sidi Mauritania's defense minister said earlier this week. According to a recent report by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, 275,000 refugees and asylum seekers are currently in Mauritania, population 4.9 million. They are mainly concentrated in the southeast on the border with Mali, including 112,000 registered in the crowded Mbera refugee camp alone, UNHCR says.

Most have fled insecurity and hunger in Mali.