Rights group: migrants in Mauritania are rounded up, arrested and deported

An operation is underway to round up, arrest and deport migrants in Mauritania, according to Info Migrants citing a recent report in Germany’s DW.

The majority of migrants in Mauritania come from neighboring Senegal, Mali and Guinea from where they are fleeing violence and poverty.

Many of those expelled are currently camping out in Rosso, a Senegalese border town. One migrant from Guinea told French broadcaster Radio France International he was arrested while buying food in Nouakchott. He allegedly spent two days in a Mauritanian prison before being expelled.

“If you don’t have money, you can’t buy anything to eat, then you could die in that cell," he told RFI.

Another pregnant migrant woman told RFI she was apprehended in her home in Mauritania and sent to prison for a week without any food before being expelled without her belongings.

Mauritania’s minister for foreign affairs insists the country is the most welcoming to migrants in the region and everything is being done in accordance with the law.

In 2024, there were over 139,000 registered Malian refugees in Mauritania, according to UNHCR. In the capital Nouakchott and the city Nouadhibou there are reportedly an additional 17,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers from 30 different countries.

But rights groups say Mauritania is becoming Europe’s policeman on migration due to pressure to contain the flow of migrants from Mauritania to European shores. 

Last year, the EU signed a $225 million deal with Mauritania to strengthen border management.

A spokesperson for the Mauritanian government told DW: "Accusations that suggest Mauritania has become a kind of policeman for the EU are false. Our cooperation with the EU remains in the field of the fight against people trafficking and migrant smuggling."