Overview

• Human Rights Watch published findings from a multi‑year investigation documenting beatings, hunger, sexual violence, inhuman detention conditions and unlawful collective expulsions of migrants in Mauritania from 2020 to 2025.
• Testimonies describe racial profiling, extortion and prolonged detention with little or no food, with some accounts alleging torture and sexual assault against men and women.
• HRW links the crackdown to expanded EU and Spanish support, citing €210 million pledged by the EU in 2024, additional Spanish funding and deployments, and allegations that Spanish agents were present during abusive operations in 2021–2022.
• Mauritania reports expelling more than 28,000 people in the first half of 2025, while Spain’s Interior Ministry data show migrant boat arrivals to the Canary Islands have fallen by about 46% this year compared with 2024.
• Mauritanian authorities deny torture and racism claims and point to training and procedural reforms, the European Commission says its partnership is anchored in rights safeguards, and Spain has not commented as HRW urges independent oversight and accountability.