“My name is Balkissa Maïga. My father is a Songhay from Gao, my mother is a Tuareg from Ménaka. My father was a truck driver who drove between Gao, Ménaka and Niamey where he was based. I’m the eldest in the family, with seven little brothers and sisters, all born and raised in Niamey. But we all have Malian nationality. (…) And here we are, all refugees in Mangaïze.”

Extract from Retour à Tombouctou, Éditions Gallimard 2015