Human smuggling across Niger

State-Sponsored Protection Rackets and Contradictory Security Imperatives

Bibliographic Data

ID4253353
AuthorsLuca Raineri (0000-0001-6107-0019, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume56
Issue1
Pages63-86
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x17000520
OpenAlexW2791392507
LanguageEN
Citations received36
References cited15

In recent years, Niger has gained prominence as a hub for the smuggling of migrants from West Africa to North Africa and Europe. Urged on by European concerns, Niamey has adopted repressive measures to contain such migrations in the region. These, however, have largely failed, and have yielded unintended and unexpected results, which challenge policy predictions. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the article suggests that contradictory security imperatives have brought about the de facto regularisation of human smuggling. As a result, protection rackets sponsored by the state through patronage networks have severely limited the impact of externally sponsored measures to counteract irregular migration

Business · Criminology · De facto · Development economics · Economics · Human rights · Human trafficking · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science · Unintended consequences · African Studies and Geopolitics · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Sex work and related issues

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