Niger's repeal of a law against migrant trafficking would drive more migrants to Libya to try to cross the Mediterranean to the European Union (EU), said Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs.
"I very much regret this decision and I am very concerned about the consequences," she said. "There is a huge risk that this will cause new deaths in the desert, and that’s the most concerning thing. But that will also probably mean more people coming to Libya, for example, and then maybe also trying to cross the Mediterranean to the EU."
The law criminalizing the illegal entry and exit of migrants on Nigerien territory was passed in 2015.
According to Brussels, this law has significantly reduced the number of deaths on the migratory route and lowered the number of illegal arrivals in the EU.
According to Niamey, the law was adopted "under the influence of certain foreign powers and criminalized as illegal trafficking certain activities that are by nature regular".