MAURITANIA AS AN ATLANTIC MIGRATION BUFFER FOR EUROPE
MAURITANIA AS AN ATLANTIC MIGRATION BUFFER FOR EUROPE

Summary/Abstract: This article examines Mauritania's role along the West African migration route to Europe, focusing on its function as a key transit and containment space for irregular Sub-Saharan migration toward the Canary Islands. Based on interviews with Mauritanian government officials conducted in June and July 2025, the study analyzes how migration governance has evolved in response to regional mobility dynamics and cooperation with European partners. It traces changes in border management practices, legal frameworks, and institutional coordination, highlighting enduring constraints linked to geography, administrative capacity, and domestic political considerations. The article argues that Mauritania's agency in migration governance is shaped less by strategic leverage than by structural necessity and geographic position. The case illustrates the limits of policy-driven migration control in a context of persistent mobility pressures and competing governance priorities.

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