98

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is in a pivotal position between the two edges of the Sahara, a place of transition between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb countries of the North of that continent. For people wishing to emigrate, it constitutes a vast desert country that has to be crossed. Flows of migration move up from the River Senegal or pass by the Mali border to the East and up to the port of Nouadhibou located at the northern end of the country, by way of the capital, Nouakchott. Nouadhibou, the country’s second largest city, is now an essential destination. It is a crossroads for migration flows: many Sub-Saharans reach the city, having heard that people could pass through there easily. Once there, the hearsay is soon starkly exposed as untrue. The numerous swindles combined with the activities of the passers who profit greatly from those ill-informed populations, give the lie. The surveys conducted prove that hopes are often dashed. From myth to reality, the much heralded point of passage proves to be a dead end. Mauritania was in the past simply a place that was crossed. Now it is a zone that is worked and restructured because the migrants end up settling in the city, thereby changing the social networks of and living patterns there. The flows of migration are bringing characteristics of the Sahel to the Sahara.