Niger; Eye of the Sahel Storm

Tillaberi Refugee Settlement, Niger. December 13, 2019. A married refugee couple from Darfur stand on the scorched ground outside their shelter in Tillaberi refugee settlement in Niger. They were recently reunited following a traumatic experience in Libya where they were separated and imprisoned for 18 months. In Darfur, they were primary school teachers but fled their village after an attack in January 2017. They were married just one month earlier in December 2016. In Libya, she was held in various detention centers in the south of Tripoli before being safely repatriated to Niger by UNHCR and IOM (International Organization for Migration). A few months later he was released from prison and was also given safe IOM passage to Niger where they were both finally reunited after almost two years apart. Niger is now one of the very few countries in the world to promote an 'open door' policy toward vulnerable refugees and migrants and working with competent authorities to improve conditions for these and other arrivals. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)