At least 35 migrants have died since January in the Niger desert, a crossing point on the perilous journey to Libya and Algeria in an attempt to reach Europe, the NGO Alarme Phone Sahara announced to AFP on Saturday.

"According to our own documentation, between January and August, 35 to 40 migrants died crossing the desert to Libya and Algeria," two neighboring countries of Niger, Aziz Chehou, coordinator of the Nigerien NGO Alarme Phone Sahara (APS), told AFP on Saturday.

Thousands of African migrants regularly brave the vast Nigerien desert to reach Libya and Algeria, hoping to then reach the Mediterranean coast and thus reach Europe.

Some die during this perilous crossing, abandoned in the desert by their smugglers or after vehicle breakdowns.

"After their vehicles break down (in the middle of the desert), passengers who are already hungry or dehydrated become impatient and try to walk long distances in search of a water source that they imagine is very close," explained Mr. Chehou, whose NGO assists migrants in distress.

Others also find themselves isolated in the desert after being turned back from Algeria or Libya.

In 2024, Alarme Phone Sahara recorded 31,000 expulsions by Algiers, a record figure.

The Nigerien military regime, in power for two years after a coup, estimated the number of migrants turned back between January and June this year at 16,000.

During a recent mission to Agadez, a large city in northern Niger, General Mohamed Toumba, Niger's Minister of the Interior, denounced "the manu militari returns of migrants of various nationalities in inhumane conditions from Algeria and Libya."

In order to avoid "a humanitarian disaster", Niamey, in collaboration with the UN agency International Organization for Migration (IOM), has decided to repatriate to their countries of origin thousands of migrants expelled by Algeria and housed in centers in the cities of Agadez and Arlit.

The junta also repealed a 2015 law criminalizing migrant trafficking, which carried penalties of up to 30 years in prison.

Since then, "many people have been moving freely" on "migration routes" "without fearing the reprisals" they faced before, notes Alarme Phone Sahara.