ABSTRACT
The death of Dominic, and how he ended up in Niamey as another stranded Ghanaian migrant, hustling through life, became a social event that brought together the perhaps most unfortunate section of the Ghanaian community in Niger. Whichever story happened to be true, in this hostile environment it appeared that all the Ghanaian migrants had a small amount of fear to pour into Dominic's death. The resulting suffering and death on the borders, although not political acts per se, are powerful acts of iconoclasm that challenge both the repressive geopolitical order and the sincerity of European commitment to humanitarian values. Focusing on the unexpected death of a Ghanaian migrant stranded in Niamey, this chapter explores how hope is understood and maintained under such stressful and dangerous circumstances. As such, his death became both a focal point of practical attention, concern, and collective action, and a sinister promise of dark things to come.
