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00:00Next to Mauritania where a corruption scandal is threatening to put the
00:03country's anti-migration partnership with the European Union at risk. At least
00:0811 police officers and two smugglers have been accused of accepting bribes
00:13from sub-Saharan African migrants in exchange for their release. A major
00:18investigation by newspapers Le Monde and Le Pays has revealed
00:23allegations of bribery and corruption at the hands of Mauritanian authorities.
00:27Our correspondent Caitlin Kelly has more now from Dakar. Mauritania police
00:33officers have been arrested for accepting bribes from migrants and
00:36allegedly collaborating with smugglers along the Atlantic migration route. That's
00:40according to a big investigation released by European media earlier this
00:45year. Media reported that Mauritania were allegedly using EU funds to detain
00:49and abandon sub-Saharan migrants in the desert near the Malian border, often
00:55without food and water and in an area known for jihadist activity. In this
00:59incident the accused police officers instead let people go in exchange for
01:04money. The anti-migration head at the police in Mauritania, Commissioner
01:11Mohamed Abdel Fattah was then dismissed two days after these arrests and
01:15although Mauritanian officials claim that this was for administrative reasons
01:19reports do suggest that he may have known about what was going on and might
01:23have even been involved. This incident and alleged corruption really cast doubt
01:27on Mauritania's commitment to EU backed anti-smuggling efforts in the region. The
01:33European Commission told France 24 that although they were aware of the
01:36Commissioner's dismissal that they would not comment on ongoing investigation. In
01:41recent years EU states have redoubled their efforts to curb migration from
01:45sub-Saharan Africa via this Atlantic route to Europe but over the past year
01:51we've seen approximately 34,000 people land on the shores of the Canary Islands
01:55with Mauritania serving as one of the main departure points.