In a dimly lit apartment in a quiet suburb of Nouakchott, Francina, a 23-year-old from the Republic of Congo, folds laundry scattered on a low bed. She has been on the run since childhood after her parents were killed in a bloody conflict in Congo. After fleeing to Mali and then to Mauritania in 2023, she initially found work as a hostess and felt welcomed. But in early 2024, police in white buses began grabbing people who “looked like” migrants, detaining and deporting them.
“Now we can’t go out,” Francina told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes we ask people with papers to buy bread for us. The police caught me twice and demanded 25,000 Mauritanian ouguiya ($623) each time. That’s too costly for me.” She is one of four migrants in Nouakchott who told Al Jazeera they fear deportation and are forced to pay bribes. They now hide in the shadows, sneaking out only at dusk.
Rights groups, including a UN expert panel, have raised concerns about the legality of arrests and forced deportations under international refugee law. Some accuse authorities of deliberately complicating the process of obtaining legal papers. Al Jazeera contacted Mauritanian police and government officials for comment but received no response. Authorities have previously stated they are targeting only undocumented people.
Typically, migrants are rounded up and deported without notice, sometimes unable to take their valuables. Mauritanian media reported hundreds of deportations of undocumented migrants and those with expired permits in 2025. Human Rights Watch, citing government figures, said 28,000 people were “expelled” in the first six months of 2025. Al Jazeera could not independently verify this figure.
Aicha, a Sierra Leonean, told Al Jazeera she was grabbed at a market in February and driven to the border with Senegal despite having a legal work permit. Police seized her phone and demanded a bribe, but she refused. She has since returned to Mauritania but goes out only when necessary. Other migrants reported being beaten in detention and having valuables stolen.
Some locals are angry at the crackdown. Young migrants who once lined the capital’s streets offering cheap services have mostly disappeared. “We need them here,” said one business owner. Mauritania, a poor desert country of 4.5 million, is a key transit point for migrants heading to the Canary Islands. In 2023, the number of migrants leaving Mauritania hit a record.
The European Union has sent 210 million euros ($235 million) to Mauritania under a “migrant partnership agreement” to intensify border security and dismantle smuggler networks. As a result, migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands from Mauritania dropped by over 80% between April and December 2025. However, researcher Hassan Ould Moctar argues that such measures are counterproductive, merely rerouting migrants to more dangerous routes.
Mohamed, a 41-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker who fled Boko Haram, lived in Mauritania for four years. He registered with the UNHCR but his documents remain unprocessed. Police arrested him and held him in a squalid room where daily prayers were impossible. A local friend bribed police to secure his release. Now he tries to “blend in” by wearing traditional robes and oiling his hair. “If I don’t do this, there’s no guarantee I’ll get home today,” he said.
Francina remains in Nouakchott, working a low-skilled job but dreaming of becoming a doctor. “If I find a way out, to get to Canada or America or Europe, I will take it,” she said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com