The tough way back: failed migration in Mali

Abstract

Migration to Europe is for many Malians a dream and an option to escape growing insecurity. As regular ways of migration are rare and expensive, migrants head north for the Moroccan or Libyan coasts. Due to European migration management including transit states in the Maghreb only few arrive at European borders, many are stuck in the transit and deported back to Malian borders in the desert. Increasingly rigid controls within Europe lead to the forced return of irregular migrants who disembark, bare of all means, at the airport of Mali’s capital Bamako. Out of this situation, self-organisations of returned migrants emerged in Bamako. By describing the unfolding and activities of three different organisations the article outlines certain aspects that mould the possibilities and practices linked to the assistance for returned migrants in Bamako, Mali. Part of these practices is the recourse on and the claiming for rights for these returnees, be it on the national, trans- or international level.