UN migration agency rescues more than 400 migrants from desert in Niger

In the latest rescue mission, Mr Millman said that migrants had come from 14 West African countries, mainly Guinea, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.

Nearly 20,000 people have been rescued from the desert in Niger since 2016 after trying to reach North Africa and being abandoned by traffickers, the UN migration agency IOM said on Tuesday.

Ten days ago, IOM found more than 400 migrants in the Tenéré desert, among them seven women and four children.

In Geneva, spokesperson Joel Millman said that although the migrant routes were not a secret, it was extremely difficult for rescuers to find migrants, whose trucks often break down or who are simply abandoned:

"We know that probably thousands of victims and the remains aren't even evident because they're covered by sand or consumed by animals. We can only rely on luck, I would say mostly, and the ability to get resources marshalled. Sometimes local authorities can be really helpful, sometimes resources are really stretched. So it's a big region and we do our best with the knowledge we're given at any given month."

In the latest rescue mission, Mr Millman said that migrants had come from 14 West African countries, mainly Guinea, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire. Of all those rescued, 98 per cent opted for voluntary return to their countries of origin, he noted.