The Deportation Chain

The Deportation Chain is an investigation into the increasing practices of forced expulsions from Tunisia and Algeria to Niger, led by LIMINAL. It draws on GPS data, WhatsApp messages and video testimonies shared by Abdallah (whose name has been changed to protect his identity), with migrant's rights NGO Refugees in Libya (RIL) & The Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI), who provided support to Abdallah during his journey. Abdallah, a Sudanese national who fled war in search of safety, was initially arrested on May 3rd, 2024, at an informal camp outside the UNHCR office in Tunis. 

LIMINAL’s investigation reconstructed the journey following his arrest which ultimately took him from the shores of the Mediterranean, first to Algeria and then deep into Niger’s Sahara Desert, over three thousand kilometres away from the location of his initial arrest. Abdallah's journey was once of enforced mobility that exposed him and his fellow deportees to arbitrary detention, arrest, violence and human rights violations. Further, outlining part of a wider ‘deportation chain’, linking together a network of both non-state actors; national and regional governments in Tunisia, Algeria and Niger, which are systematically abusing vulnerable people; international organisations such as the UNHCR, who are failing in their mission to protect them; as well as the EU and individual member states, which continue to provide financial, political and operational support. Full video report available here.

Image: still from film publishing the results of the visual investigation, LIMINAL, 2025

Team

Jack Isles - Research Management & Geospatial Analysis
Lorenzo Pezzani - Research Direction
Tareq Tamimi - Research
Salahadine Djouma - Research & Victim Support
Giulia Sezzi - Research & Victim Support
Elena Tommasoni - Research & Victim Support
David Yambio - Research & Victim Support
Adelaide Massimi - Legal Support 
Anna Berlingieri - Legal Support