Difficulty in security dilemma in Sahel in Africa (international perspective)
Core reading
Recently, multinational terrorist attacks in the Sahel region of Africa have occurred frequently, and the security situation has continued to deteriorate. Due to the unstable political situation in many countries in the region, the backward economy, intertwined tribal conflicts, the security forces are relatively weak, and extreme forces have taken advantage of it. Relevant countries have not yet achieved significant results in their actions against extremists, and the Sahel still faces severe security challenges.
The UN Refugee Agency and other agencies recently issued a warning that terrorist organizations in the Sahel have frequently launched attacks on civilians recently, resulting in a surge in the number of local refugees and a worrying humanitarian situation. There are signs that various extremist organizations are using the epidemic to strengthen terrorist activities, and the regional security situation is becoming more complicated. The international community calls on all parties to the conflict to cease fire and fight the epidemic immediately. The countries concerned also support regional anti-terrorism and respond to humanitarian crises in different ways.
Frequent attacks cause heavy civilian casualties
Recently, there have been many terrorist attacks in the Sahel, causing a large number of casualties and many civilians being displaced. The Niger Ministry of Defence said on May 12 that the Niger-Nigerian Allied Forces and the Multinational Allied Forces recently killed at least 75 militants of the extremist organization “Boko Haram” in two operations in Difah Province, southeast Niger; The Nigerian coalition forces killed at least 50 "Boko Haram" militants in the same province. The province of Diffa is located at the border between Niger and Nigeria. The "Boko Haram" has caused many terrorist attacks in the area in recent years, resulting in a large number of casualties. On May 10, two United Nations peacekeeping forces were attacked by roadside improvised explosives in the Kidal region of northern Mali, killing three peacekeeping soldiers; on May 9, three villages in Tiraberg, western Niger, were unknown The identity militants attacked and killed 20 civilians.
The United Nations Refugee Agency reported that civilians in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin areas have recently been subjected to frequent armed attacks, and nearly 50,000 people have been displaced in the area by 2020. In the first three months of this year, UNHCR and its partners recorded 191 incidents of violence within 50 kilometers of the Niger border, of which 549 people were killed. In addition, the security situation in northwestern Nigeria is deteriorating. In April alone, 23,000 refugees fled to neighboring Niger. UNHCR spokesman Baros said that these incidents pose more challenges to the financial resources and response capabilities of humanitarian work.
The Sahel is a semi-desert area located south of the Sahara Desert in Africa and north of the grasslands of Sudan, covering Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and other countries. Due to economic backwardness, increased climate change, and weak border management, the humanitarian situation in this region is severe, and it has become a hotbed for terrorism, entrenching many extremist organizations such as "Boko Haram", "Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb" . Since its establishment in 2002, the "Boko Haram" has frequently attacked civilians and government forces in the Lake Chad Basin region, posing a security threat to Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and other countries. It is reported that the Sahel region is becoming the latest battleground between the "Al-Qaida" group and the extremist group "Islamic State". The two extremist groups are fighting for resources, new members and influence in the region.
Extreme groups try to use the epidemic to sit
On May 15th, six UN aid agencies and two non-governmental organizations jointly warned of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in West Africa and the Sahel, emphasizing that the escalation of conflicts, increased food insecurity, and the new coronary pneumonia epidemic will make this The region was hit harder than ever. It is estimated that in 2020, 24 million people in this area will need humanitarian assistance and protection, half of them children. Large-scale violent conflicts and natural disasters will cause more than 4.5 million people to be displaced or become refugees, 1 million more than in 2019. According to Chris Nikoy, the regional director of the UN Food Programme, more than 12 million people are expected to face severe food shortages in the Sahel in 2020.
At present, countries in the Sahel region have reported more than 9,000 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted that the risk of the spread of the new coronavirus is high because of conflicts and insecurity that have weakened the health system in the area. For example, in the conflict-affected areas of Mali, about a quarter of sanitation facilities are inoperable. Sophie Nonenmahe, the head of the temporary area of the International Organization for Migration, said that due to the unprecedented large-scale border closures, “immigrants and displaced people have difficulty accessing public health services, and it is difficult to receive new coronavirus testing and treatment.” Displaced persons are included in the national epidemic response plan.
"Extreme organizations in the Sahel region are using the epidemic to strengthen terrorist attacks." UN Secretary General Guterres has recently warned that the severe situation in the region has exacerbated the spread of the epidemic, and terrorist organizations have in turn used the epidemic to further expand. Although the United Nations has repeatedly called for "an immediate global ceasefire around the world" to fight against the epidemic, the armed conflict in the Sahel has not decreased.
Brama Bugatti, a security analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London, UK, analyzed, "There are already signs that extreme groups on the African continent are trying to use the epidemic to increase violent activities and take advantage of opportunities to expand their territory." At present, African countries are focusing their healthcare and humanitarian assistance resources on outbreak response, and terrorist organizations are using the "humanitarian vacuum" and the resulting chaos and panic to attract public support. Julie Coleman, a scholar at the International Anti-Terrorism Center in The Hague, Netherlands, pointed out that these terrorist organizations provide their members with guidelines for preventing the spread of disease, and promote that joining the organization can guarantee health and health to attract new members.
Strengthen cooperation to deal with humanitarian crises
The international community is helping the Sahel to combat terrorism and respond to humanitarian crises in various ways. The United Nations Multi-Level Comprehensive Stabilization Mission in Mali currently deploys approximately 13,000 peacekeeping officers and soldiers throughout Mali to maintain regional stability. The Sahelian five-nation group and the French army to implement the "crescent dune" anti-terrorist operation have caused a major blow to the "Boko Haram" organization and recovered some of the land occupied by armed elements. The World Food Programme is providing emergency food aid worth US $ 150 million to 4.1 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
The European Union recently held a video conference with the Group of Five Sahel, the United Nations and the African Union, hoping to maintain the security and stability of the Sahel through a series of initiatives and political frameworks, and called for greater solidarity and commitment to fight terrorism together. The EU also announced an additional 194 million euros in aid to non-Sahelian regions. Recently, a special force called "Takuba" formed by 13 European countries will be dispatched to this area to further assist the regional security forces in counter-terrorism operations.
At present, UN agencies and NGOs such as "Hunger Eradication" urgently need additional resources to expand the scale of aid operations, and jointly call on the international community to increase support. In 2020, humanitarian agencies need a total of 2.8 billion US dollars to provide assistance to 17 million people in the Sahel. As of May, only 18% of the funds were in place. The latest new coronary pneumonia epidemic humanitarian response plan requires a total of 638 million US dollars in the Sahel, and the current funding rate is less than 4%.
For the past three months, countries in the Sahel have been working with the World Health Organization to formulate outbreak response strategies and strengthen public health control at the border. The International Monetary Fund has agreed to provide emergency financial assistance to help countries in the Sahel solve their urgent balance of payments problems. Anti-epidemic materials donated by the Chinese government to relevant countries have also arrived one after another. China has also sent a team of anti-epidemic medical experts to Burkina Faso to support the local fight against the epidemic.
(Reported by Johannesburg, May 18th)