Mauritania’s security forces have been accused of systematically abusing migrants and asylum seekers from other African countries, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The rights watchdog alleges that the violations, ranging from rape, torture, extortion, and racist abuse, have intensified under a €210 million migration partnership signed in 2024 between Mauritania, the European Union (EU), and Spain. The deal was aimed at curbing perilous sea crossings to Spain’s Canary Islands but has instead sparked concerns of human rights violations.
HRW’s 142-page report, based on interviews with over 220 migrants and asylum seekers between 2020 and early 2025, describes what it calls an “abusive migration control playbook.” Victims from countries such as Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Liberia reported being detained in degrading conditions, stripped of their identification, and targeted with racial slurs. HRW noted that all the victims interviewed were Black Africans, raising allegations of racial discrimination by security forces, predominantly from Mauritania’s lighter-skinned Beidane ethnic group.
Several testimonies revealed the scale of abuse. A Senegalese returnee told HRW: “If you have black skin, they don’t respect you, they insult you and take your papers.” A Togolese woman added: “When they see me, a foreigner, it’s like they see something strange or shady.” Women and children were also among those who reported sexual assault, torture, and exploitation.
The report further alleges that Spanish security officials, working under the EU migration partnership, were at times witnesses to the abuses. This revelation has raised fresh questions about Europe’s role in outsourcing migration control to African states without sufficient safeguards to protect human rights.
Nearly 47,000 migrants and asylum seekers arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2024, many after undertaking the dangerous Atlantic crossing from Mauritania. Known for its high death toll, the route is seen by many African migrants as the only available path to Europe a journey often described as “try or die.”
Mauritania has rejected the HRW findings, insisting that it has made recent progress in protecting migrant rights. The European Commission also defended its partnership with Mauritania, saying the agreement is “anchored in upholding rights.” Nonetheless, HRW has urged Mauritania and its European partners to ensure accountability by providing human rights training for security personnel and establishing independent mechanisms to investigate violations.
While some migration reforms in recent months have been acknowledged as improvements, rights groups warn that unless serious action is taken, vulnerable migrants will continue to face abuse in Mauritania as Europe tightens its external border controls.
Leave a comment