Niger’s ruling military rulers took power in a coup last year, the latest of several military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel , the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a hotspot for extremist violence….reports Asian Lite News
Niger’s military junta has banned the French aid group Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, or Acted, from working in the country amid tensions with France.
The Ministry of the Interior signed a decree on Tuesday withdrawing the nonprofit organization’s licence to operate, without providing reasons for the decision.
Another aid group, Niger’s Action for Well-Being, or APBE, also saw its licence revoked.Acted had been active in the West African country since 2010, mainly helping people displaced by jihadist violence and natural disasters .
Niger’s ruling military rulers took power in a coup last year, the latest of several military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel , the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a hotspot for extremist violence.
Since the coup, the Sahelian country has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. The authorities expelled both the French soldiers fighting against jihadists in the country and the French ambassador.
In September, the U.S. military completed its withdrawal from Niger , after the ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. Niger had been the West’s last reliable partner in the region in battling jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
EU-Niger migration cooperation at risk
Once a key partner for the European Union in fighting irregular migration, July’s coup d’état in Niger has put that partnership at risk, with the military junta repealing a key anti-trafficking law in response to EU sanctions.
An anti-trafficking law, passed in 2015 but repealed last November just months after the junta’s military takeover, had hugely reduced migrant traffic through the city of Agadez – Niger’s fifth largest city – into the Sahara desert.
In July last year, Niger’s presidential guard detained the president, Mohamed Bazoum, citing a “deteriorating security situation and bad governance.” Neighbouring countries Mali and Burkina Faso – which are also under junta control – backed the military takeover.
The coup was a shock for Brussels, which had long cultivated ties with Niger in order to strengthen the EU’s own border controls. As far back as 2004, the EU has been attempting to bolster Niger’s resources in tackling rebels in the north of the country as well as possible terrorism links. That was in exchange for Niger’s help in externalising the EU’s own migration controls.
Since then, the relationship had only grown. Between 2012 and 2016, EU missions tasked with reducing insecurity and terrorism and combatting irregular migration were launched. Made up of some 150 EU officials, the mission was extended for another two years in 2022 and awarded a budget of €72 million. The 2015, the anti-trafficking bill now repealed by the junta had introduced severe penalties, including fines and imprisonment for involvement in smuggling or trafficking.
It has been suggested that some of these EU-promoted migration policies in Niger may have contributed to the coup d’état which toppled former leader Bazoum. In retaliation to the coup, the EU halted its support for security and migration projects in the country. Speaking to Euronews, Emanuela Del Re, EU Special Representative for the Sahel, said: “We were obligated to suspend all activities because of the coup d’état.”
“We have been supporting the action of the Ecowas (the Economic Community of West African States), which has imposed sanctions on the junta in power at the moment, because we wanted to send a very important sign that unconstitutional changes in the countries of the Sahel are absolutely unacceptable.”
The EU’s actions haven’t come without consequence – leading to the revoking of the aforementioned anti-trafficking law by the junta. The EU said it regretted the junta’s decision, warning it could lead to an increase in migratory flows to Europe.
Javier Nart, MEP for Renew Europe, said: “It [the junta’s repealment] is indeed a response to the end of the aid. But we cannot maintain an economic aid for a military junta.” However, for many of Niger’s residents, the decriminalisation of the migrant-smuggling trade could benefit the local economy: many make their living by transporting migrants.
“Locally, it is considered an ancestral way to live, to trade, to exchange. Population displacement, particularly in the Sahel itself or to northern regions, is considered part of a way of life,” said Niagalé Bagayoko, President African Security Secteur Network. For the EU, one of the biggest fears is that without the law in place, human trafficking networks could expand in the region.
The EU is working on plans to sanction the military leaders who seized power in Niger in July, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday.
Speaking following a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo, Spain, Borrell said that the EU will plan sanctions similar to those imposed by West African bloc ECOWAS.
ECOWAS and the West African Monetary and Economic Union have introduced financial sanctions since coup leaders overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Bazoum in July, suspending financial transactions and freezing national assets. The members of the Presidential Guard responsible for the coup have also received travel bans.
On Wednesday, Borrell said he had proposed a new legislative framework to ministers that would allow the EU to impose its own sanctions on the putschists.
“It’s up to ECOWAS to take decisions in order to counter this military coup and we will follow, trying to implement the same kind of sanctions that they have decided,” Borrell said.
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