Rehabilitation of two temporary care centers for undocumented aliens in Nouadhibou and Nouakchott

The rehabilitation and refurbishment works of the two centers are part of the European project to support the fight against migrant smuggling and the management of irregular migration in Mauritania.
The National Police team mobilized for this cooperation project will also reinforce the technical capacity of its Mauritanian counterpart in the management of irregular migration and the treatment of migrants.

The rehabilitation of two open centers for 118 people (45 in Nouadhibou and 73 in Nouakchott) is one of the actions foreseen in the four-year project (to be completed by the end of the year) financed with 4.5 million euros by the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

The works, which have just been put out to tender for 500,000 euros and are expected to start in mid-April, provide for separate dormitories for men and women, kitchens and refectories, hygiene and sports areas and meeting spaces. The facilities will be equipped with facilities for personal interviews in conditions of privacy and security in order to properly process requests for international protection. Both centers have been designed to meet European Union standards for the reception of migrants and the requirements for the recognition of international protection (European Asylum Support Office (EASO) standards). The designs of the facilities have been developed with the participation of UNHCR, IOM and Mauritanian institutions. Until now, there were no spaces for this type of migration management in the country.

The Emergency Trust Fund for Africa was established by the European Union and its African partners at the Valletta summit on migration held in November 2015 with the aim of addressing the root causes of migration.

Ongoing accompaniment and training

The main objective of this project is the creation of a joint operational team (POC, for its French acronym) to contribute to the effective fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking. To this end, work is being carried out to improve irregular immigration management capacities by supporting Mauritanian security forces and improving the structural and operational capacities of the country's irregular immigration management system.

The program emphasizes training in human rights compliance in migration management and focuses on strengthening capacities for investigating and dismantling human trafficking networks, combating human trafficking and the risks of irregular migration.

The methodology of the Joint Operational Teams is based on accompaniment and continuous training. The POC methodology (also used in JITs - Joint Investigation Teams) is implemented in several EU projects in West African and Sahel countries in addition to Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Gambia and Mali.

The POC Mauritania project team is composed of 4 Spanish police officers and 33 Mauritanian police officers with operational capabilities. This team ensures a constant accompaniment in line with the standards of international protection of migrants' rights, the main activity of the project. In addition, support will be provided for the drafting of internal regulations for the temporary care centers, in coordination with the relevant civil society actors and UN agencies.