While Europe opens its borders to Ukrainian refugees, it has made them deadly for African refugees to cross.<br /> <br /> To keep out these refugees who are fleeing war and economic destabilization because of Europe’s exploitation of Africa, the EU is externalizing its borders, pushing them into Africa by financing border patrols and agencies such as FRONTEX, as well as repressive governments on the continent. <br /> <br /> The result is more militarization, the criminalization of people who assist migrants and thousands of deaths, as migrants are forced towards ever-more dangerous routes through the desert.<br /> <br /> We have traveled to the Nigerien city of Agadez, a gateway to the Sahara and a historical hub on centuries-old migration routes. There we met the victims of these new militarized borders and found people who have been forced back home by EU-funded agencies to potentially life-threatening situations, deteriorating economic conditions, and been subjected to the horror of the EU’s cooperation with criminal states like Libya, all in the name of protecting “Fortress Europe”. <br />