Algeria expelled over 1,800 migrants to Niger in a record deportation, amid regional tensions and ongoing migrant pushbacks.

Algerian authorities carried out a record-setting expulsion of migrants earlier this month, forcibly removing more than 1,800 individuals and leaving them at the border with Niger, according to a migrant rights group based in Niger. The organization, Alarmphone Sahara, which monitors migration movements across the region, reported that the migrants were transported by bus to a remote desert location known as “Point Zero” after being detained in various Algerian cities.

Abdou Aziz Chehou, the group’s national coordinator, told The Associated Press on Thursday that a total of 1,845 migrants who lacked legal status in Algeria had been documented arriving in the Nigerien border town of Assamaka following the mass expulsion on April 19. He noted that this latest group pushed the total number of expelled migrants arriving in Assamaka during the month of April to over 4,000.

Chehou further explained that this number does not include those who might attempt to make their way back north into Algeria. These large-scale deportations are unfolding against a backdrop of growing tensions between Algeria and its southern neighbors, all of which are currently governed by military juntas that came to power after toppling elected governments once aligned with Algiers. Earlier this month, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger each withdrew their ambassadors from Algeria, citing disputes related to border security.

For many migrants fleeing poverty, armed conflict, or the effects of climate change, Algeria functions as a crucial transit point on their journey toward Europe. These individuals often endure arduous treks across the vast Sahara Desert before embarking on perilous attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea. However, strengthened maritime patrols have left increasing numbers of migrants stranded in transit countries—many of which have questionable human rights records and offer minimal humanitarian assistance.

Alarmphone Sahara reported that more than 30,000 migrants were expelled from Algeria in 2024 alone. Similar forced returns have also been documented in neighboring countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Neither Algerian nor Nigerien government officials have publicly addressed the latest wave of expulsions, which remain largely absent from Algerian media coverage. In the past, Nigerien authorities have indicated that such expulsions appear to contravene a 2014 bilateral agreement stipulating that only Nigerien nationals may be deported across the shared border.