Smuggled Through Niger (PHOTOS)
Migrants make the perilous trip from Agadez, an ancient trading town on the edge of the Sahara, through Libya and on to Europe. In search of a better life, and escape from grinding poverty, they risk inhumane conditions from opportunistic smugglers.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Migrant Nassirou, 19, wears a turban to protect himself from dust and heat as he sits in the back of a truck with other immigrants, at a local immigration transit centre in the desert town of Agadez, Niger.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
People walk past a hotel near the main market in the desert town of Agadez, Niger.
Encouraged by social media messages from friends who survived the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, African migrants in overcrowded pickup trucks set off from Agadez, an ancient trading town on the edge of the Sahara, to cross Niger in the uncertain journey towards Europe.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
A man sits on his motorbike at the main market in the desert town of Agadez, Niger. The migrants travel via Libya, where the collapse of the government has offered an open door for smugglers.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Migrants from Burkina Faso disembark from a vehicle after arriving at a motor park. International focus on the issue of migration into Europe has sharpened after hundreds of migrants drowned while trying to cross the sea from North Africa in overcrowded and unsafe vessels.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
The migrants are mostly young men hoping to escape grinding poverty in neighbouring Benin or Burkina Faso. They face bandits and often have to pay bribes en route, on top of the hefty payments to people smugglers.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Migrants hold containers of water wrapped with wet sacks as they sit in the back of a truck at a local immigration transit centre.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
A minaret is seen at a sunset in Agadez, Niger.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Containers wrapped with wet sacks filled with water to be used by migrants who are preparing to board a truck prior to their journey.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
A girl walks past sticks that will be used for building in the desert town of Agadez, Niger.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Migrants sit on their belongings in the back of a truck as it is driven down a dusty road.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
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