Statistics, if not properly explained, can become deceiving. Such is the case with Malian refugees in Niger. The total figure of around 50,000 has not changed since 2013 (51,700 at the end of 2013 and 52,500 today). What looks like a static situation and the same population is not the case. A recent analysis shows major variations: 9,000 Malian refugees left since 2013. They left spontaneously or were assisted by UNHCR. During the same time 12,000 Malians newly arrived. The number of urban refugees in Niamey decreased considerably while the new arrivals settled mainly in camps in Tillaberi region and the Nomad Zones in Tahoua region. Ignace Mbom, socio-economic researcher at the IFORD demographic institute in Yaounde (Cameroon), has observed this trend and come to the following conclusion: “In fact, these figures hide the fact that the more affluent refugees tend to return to Mali—mainly to the urban areas of Gao and Ansongo—while the more destitute rural population of Menaka district choses the way into exile.” In 2013, there were also more than 7,000 Niger nationals living in the Malian refugee camps. Due to a joint programme of UNHCR and the Niger government all these “returnees” were relocated into their villages of origin.