A/HRC/41/38/Add.1 African and European States participated and which resulted in the establishment of a coordination mechanism. 24. The National Legal and Judicial Assistance Agency was created in 2011 to make legal and judicial assistance available to vulnerable people and facilitate universal access to justice. The Agency maintains a presence in the capital and all regions, and is tasked with contributing to the development and implementation of the national policy on legal and judicial assistance. 25. In 2017, the National Human Rights Commission became fully compliant with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and opened regional offices in the Diffa, Tillabéri and Agadez Regions. In 2016 the Commission started actively monitoring the human rights situation of migrants, for example visiting ghettos of migrants in transit in Agadez and conducting an investigation into violations of the human rights of migrant persons on the road from Niamey to Gao, Mali. IV. Migration management and its impact on the human rights of migrants A. Introduction 26. The Niger faces multiple challenges in the management of migration, some external, such as pressure from destination countries or threats to security in the Sahel region, and others internal, for example perceived threats to public order and national security and lack of implementation of national laws, due partly to insufficient knowledge, awareness and means of local authorities, especially police and judges.15 27. In recent years, the Niger has adopted a series of legislative, policy and practical measures as part of its migration management, led primarily by security concerns. These measures are predominantly repressive, at the expense of the human rights protection of migrants, and are in violation of the State’s international and regional obligations, such as respect for the principles of non-refoulement and of freedom of movement in the ECOWAS region. 28. The present chapter of the report focuses on the main measures adopted by the Niger in this context. Such measures include the criminalization of irregular migration, the strengthening of border control to curb and prevent all movement to the north, readmission agreements for migrant victims of collective expulsions and returns of migrants through the IOM-assisted voluntary return programme. B. Irregular migration 29. One of the key measures adopted by the Niger with respect to irregular migration is the Law on the Illicit Smuggling of Migrants. The law allegedly is an attempt to prevent loss of life in the desert, combat activities of smugglers of migrants and respond to pressure from destination countries to halt migration to the north. According to Nigerien authorities and IOM data, the implementation of the law has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of migrants who move north to Algeria, Libya and the Mediterranean. 16 The implementation of the law has also had a significant impact on the migration industry in Agadez Region, which formerly played a pivotal role in migrant journeys to North Africa 15 16 See Hamadou, “La géstion des flux migratoires au Niger”. From 333,891 in 2016 to 43,380 in 2018, according to IOM data provided during the visit of the Special Rapporteur, and based on monitoring trends collected in Arlit and Séguédine. 7