Activists warn a deal between Tunisia and Libya to share responsibility for hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants once stranded on their shared border risks migrants’ rights and doesn’t solve the core problem. It also raises fresh concerns about Tunisia, where Black migrants have faced a surge of racist attacks. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Tunis, Tunisia.
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Aviation experts are meeting in Kenya this week to examine methods to improve security and safety for Africa’s airlines and airports.

Beyond those topics, the eighth meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will also involve discussions on air transport facilitation and sustainability in Africa.

The principal secretary for Kenya’s department of transport, Mohamed Daghar, told the conference that Kenyan airports now have technology for security measures that make travel for passengers both safe and smooth.

“We now have in place the prerequisite infrastructure and capabilities to fully participate in ICAO’s public key directory, the advanced passenger information and the passenger name record,” Daghar said. “This will see Kenya join the global community in making the passenger journey seamless.”

ICAO President Salvatore Sciacchitano said Africa must prepare for increased air traffic in the coming months, hence the need to improve the safety of airports and passengers.

“It’s important to acknowledge that states are more prosperous when they are better connected and that nothing can connect Africa as efficiently and as reliably as air transport,” Sciacchitano said.

He added that the industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic but that global traffic is expected to reach 2019 levels by the end of the year.

“The prospect for Africa in this respect is remarkable,” Sciacchitano said.

Africa’s air transport sector was hit hard by the global pandemic, which led to lockdowns and countries issuing strict health measures to combat the infection. Aviation experts say the measures taken to subdue COVID-19 have made it difficult for the airlines and people to move freely, leading to a loss of income.

Even as air traffic picks up, experts say security risks have evolved, and now airlines face threats from insiders, terrorism, human trafficking, inadequately documented passengers and contraband smuggling.

The Transportation Security Administration, a U.S. government agency, invested in Kenya’s international airport to improve security and train staff, increasing the effectiveness of passenger screenings.

The agency’s administrator, David Pekoske, told the aviation conference to work together to deal with security threats.

“Over the next few days, I encourage all of us to not only listen to the best practices and effectiveness that can be sustained but ultimately to collaborate on enhancing the effectiveness of the global civil aviation system,” Pekoske said. “Success’s mission is directly dependent on the cooperation between a myriad of partners. I believe it’s people, partnership and technology that make a difference.”

More than 300 delegates from international and African civil aviation agencies are attending the conference in Nairobi, which ends Friday.
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The recent arrest and conviction of a Malian TikTok influencer and other critics of Mali’s military government have raised concerns among human rights activists about what they say is a crackdown on the government’s political opponents and the suppression of press freedoms since the junta took power. A VOA reporter talked to human rights workers in Mali’s capital, Bamako, who say the trend is worrying and likely to continue under military rule across the Sahel.
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The run-up to Zimbabwe’s election Wednesday has seen political campaigns use music concerts, celebrities and sporting heroes to attract and energize young voters. But some analysts say Zimbabwe’s rural-urban divide could be the deciding factor in the election.

Eleven candidates are vying for the presidency, but the main contest will be between the incumbent president, 80-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Nelson Chamisa, 45, leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change, or CCC.

The election marks Chamisa’s second bid to unseat Mnangagwa and break the ruling ZANU-PF’s 43-year grip on power.

Chamisa, a lawyer and former preacher, is largely popular among Zimbabwe’s urban and youth voters, as some have only known a nation mired in economic challenges, troubled by chronic high unemployment and rising prices.

Young voters tend to show greater support for the CCC — and one-sixth of Zimbabwe’s 6.6 million registered voters are casting ballots for the first time this year.

Professor Ricky Mukonza from Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa says the elections are not just about the voters’ ages, but where they live.

According to the World Bank, 67.4% of Zimbabweans were living in rural areas in 2022. ZANU-PF has long enjoyed strong support in these areas, where state funds and powerful patronage networks have helped the ruling party secure support.

The main opposition has traditionally had its support concentrated in the southern African nation’s urban centers.

Mukonza says urban youth voters tend to be “noisier” on social media and at opposition rallies, “giving the impression there are more of them than there really are.”

“That pre-election energy rarely translates to high youth turnout at the ballot box,” he told VOA.

In the 2018 election, which saw Mnangagwa win 50.8% of the vote, turnout was at 75%, according to Zimbabwean election officials. It is not clear how many voters turned out in rural areas versus urban.

Mukonza predicts a strong showing in Wednesday’s poll among the rural electorate, whom he refers to as “Zimbabwe’s silent majority.”

“If we go by past voting patterns, ZANU-PF will win with high margins in the rural areas and will lose with high margins in the urban areas,” Mukonza said.

Chamisa seeks rural support

The CCC seems to recognize the power of the rural vote. The party promised to prioritize voters living outside the cities but told supporters to brace for a “rough election campaign.”

“We’ve seen Chamisa campaigning very strongly in rural areas,” said Chipo Dendere, an assistant professor of Africana Studies at U.S.-based Wellesley College.

“The question isn’t whether the message is right to rural voters. It’s whether or not rural voters will feel comfortable on election day to put their ‘X’ on Nelson Chamisa,” Dendere told VOA’s “Straight Talk Africa.”

Drumming up opposition support in ZANU-PF territory has proven to be a mammoth task for Chamisa. Police have blocked several CCC rallies across the country in the run-up to the elections.

Alleged attacks on CCC supporters have stoked fears Zimbabwe’s violent election history is already repeating itself.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Chamisa alleged that people in rural areas, far from the international spotlight, are making their political choices under the threat of violence. Chamisa said, for some, it was a choice of “death or ZANU-PF.”

Voter intimidation, unfair electoral processes

A report released by Human Rights Watch documented first-hand accounts of abductions, arbitrary arrests of political opposition figures and government critics, and other human rights abuses ahead of Wednesday’s election.

Zimbabwe-based voter watchdog Electoral Resource Center says there have been reports of voter intimidation, especially in rural areas of the country.

“General public sentiment, as noted in several surveys, reveals that people have very little confidence in the electoral process as well as the election management body in the country,” the ERC said in a statement released this week.

The president, ZANU-PF officials and its supporters have denied any foul play.

At a news conference on Thursday, ZANU-PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa denied allegations of voter intimidation and unfair electoral processes.

He accused the opposition of being “obsessed with criticizing the electoral process so that they have something to say after losing.”

For Mukonza, this kind of violent backdrop makes it hard to distinguish whether some people vote out of loyalty or fear. “Even if those in the rural areas have a change of heart or start to warm up to the main opposition party,” he said, “ultimately they will still vote for the ruling party.”

Dendere said rural voters “understand political violence in a way that urban voters might not.” Because of that, she said, some may vote for the ruling party as a form of self-protection.

“And that’s the biggest challenge for the opposition. Can they convince rural voters that their vote will be protected, and that they, too, will be protected if they vote their choice?” Dendere said.

Zimbabwe’s foreign affairs ministry says it has invited 46 countries and 17 international organizations, including the African Union and the European Union, to observe the elections.

Addressing a 150,000-strong crowd at a ZANU-PF rally in Harare earlier this month, Mnangagwa told supporters they would be “lost” if they did not vote for ZANU-PF and re-elect him, adding, “No one will stop us from ruling this country.”

This story originated in VOA’s English to Africa service. Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for an official state visit, full of pomp and ceremony, on the side of the BRICS summit on Tuesday. Xi was greeted in Pretoria with a 21-gun salute as the two countries marked 25 years of diplomatic relations.

Ramaphosa welcomed Xi warmly, recalling how Beijing supported South Africa’s struggle against apartheid and calling the relationship between the two a “very special” one.

He noted that China is South Africa’s biggest global trade partner, with some $32 billion in bilateral trade last year, but stressed a trade imbalance in China’s favor needs addressing.

“As South Africa, we would like to see the significant trade deficit narrowed and this visit is an opportunity for us to look at ways to do so,” Ramaphosa said.

South Africa is currently in the throes of a major energy crisis, with its economy being hit hard by almost-daily blackouts. Ramaphosa thanked China for donating emergency power equipment and for a grant of approximately $26 million as development assistance.

“Energy cooperation with China is a recent development that we look to deepen, particularly in line with our respective commitments to low-carbon, climate resilient development,” he said.

Ramaphosa confirmed South Africa’s commitment to the One-China policy, and noted that Pretoria and Beijing shared a similar position in supporting the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

For his part, Xi noted the two nations share a strong bond, “as comrades and brothers.”

Paul Nantulya, a China expert at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said while China is the world’s second largest economy, it has always projected itself as a fellow developing country.

“It would like Global South countries to see it as a developing country and that becomes particularly important in terms of providing a counter-weight to what it sees as a western and a U.S. dominated international order and international system,” Nantulya said.

Several memorandums of understanding were signed during the state visit, including agreements on direct investment, the digital economy, the export of avocados, and the development of industrial parks and special economic zones.

The two nations also agreed to step up cooperation on tourism and education.

Later Tuesday, the BRICS Summit of emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – gets into full swing. All the BRICS country leaders are in attendance save for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be taking part remotely.

Expansion of the bloc is expected to dominate the agenda of the summit, which ends on Thursday.
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The Somali government has offered amnesty to al-Shabab militants amid an ongoing military offensive in central parts of the country. The move is seen by some analysts as a way to remove al-Shabab fighters from the battlefield, thereby weakening the insurgent group.

The amnesty offer is part of a widening approach by the Somali government in its fight against the al-Shabab militant group. The government has deployed the military, targeted financial networks and waged an ideological battle against the group.

The announcement by the National Counter Terrorism Center to open doors for defections follows President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s remarks that al-Shabab leadership was not willing to negotiate with the government.

Abdiaziz Hussein Issack, a security analyst with Hamad Bin Khalifa Civilization Center, said the amnesty offer to al-Shabab is a strategic tactic by the Somali government to further weaken the group.

Already, he said, there have been reports of discontent among the foot soldiers that they are not getting support from the top leadership as the government forces pile pressure on them.

The federal government launched a large-scale offensive against al-Shabab in the Mudug and Galgaduud regions in central parts of the country.

Clan militias also provided support to the forces, which, the government said are on course to finish the first phase of the operation. Issack says amnesty might also provide government forces with intelligence about the group.

If well-coordinated, the amnesty could be a plus for the government, he said. If the fighters desert their positions, the government forces will not only face little resistance but will also benefit from intelligence from the defectors.

Despite the expected positive outcomes, some analysts think an amnesty offer may not tilt the scales of the war. Abdirashid Farah Ali, a security and political analyst at Linking Governance, a policy and strategy consultancy in Mogadishu, warned not to expect too much from the amnesty offer.

He said there is no guarantee the amnesty will net a major gain for the government. There might be just a few defectors out of the thousands of soldiers, and while it has a psychological effect on the war against al-Shabab, it may not change the course of the war.

Several senior figureheads in al-Shabab have defected in the past. The current minister for religious affairs was the founder and the second most senior leader before he defected to the government in 2017 and he’s currently leading the ideological warfare against the group.

Ali says if the amnesty does work and several militants defect, it might force al-Shabab to the negotiating table.

He says major defections are unlikely.  But if there are some defections, al-Shabab might be forced to consider negotiation rather than face humiliation. So, there might be a good opportunity for the government to pursue amnesty.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been leading the war campaign in Galmudug state in central Somalia for the last two weeks. The two-time leader has staked his presidency on the annihilation of al-Shabab.

As he prepares to launch the second phase of operations in the south, he faces two tasks: an ongoing al-Shabab build-up and tough terrain. But should he succeed in getting defectors, the war might work in his favor.  
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The Economic Community of West African States has rejected a plan by Niger’s coup leaders to relinquish power within three years.

The three-year transition plan proposed by Niger’s military junta was unacceptable, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, told a Nigerian television channel Monday.

He said the regional bloc ECOWAS insists on the return of constitutional order as quickly as possible, and that the junta proposed the transition plan as a distraction to remain in power for longer.

“In some other countries under military regime in West Africa, they had about three years and already they’re negotiating with their population to have another 18 months,” Musah said. “What legitimacy do they have to already begin with three years? And we know it is not going to end there.”

In a televised address Saturday, Niger’s junta leader Abdourahamane Tchiani said the country would return to civilian rule within three years. He spoke soon after meeting with an ECOWAS delegation led by Nigeria’s former head of state, Abdulsalam Abubakar.

Tchiani urged political parties to submit their vision for the transition within 30 days.

“Our ambition is not to confiscate power,” he said. “Transition period will not exceed three years.”

It was the first time the junta had met with ECOWAS representatives since the July 26 coup, raising hopes of continued dialogue.

But Musah said it is the pressure from ECOWAS sanctions and threat of military intervention that is making the junta more compliant.

“We’re no longer going to get into drawn out haggling with people who have used their power against their own constitution.”

Idayat Hassan, the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Abuja-based pro-democracy think tank, said ECOWAS must not give in to the transition plan by Niger’s coup leaders.

“If ECOWAS allows for this three-year transition, it is going to be following in the footsteps of Mali, and in Burkina Faso and in Guinea,” she said.

Soldiers of the presidential guard who deposed President Mohammed Bazoum last month continue to hold him and his family hostage.

ECOWAS recently activated a standby force to intervene in Niger if negotiations fail. Defense chiefs who met in Accra last week said they are ready to take action as soon as an order is given.
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President Emmerson Mnangangwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens for Coalition for Change are the main parties vying for votes among other candidates
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Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week, when an expected joint dose of anti-West grumbling from them may take on a sharper edge with a formal move to bring Saudi Arabia closer.

Leaders from the BRICS economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold three days of meetings in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton, with Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s attendance underlining the diplomatic capital his country has invested in the bloc over the last decade-and-a-bit as an avenue for its ambitions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will appear on a video link after his travel to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him over the war in Ukraine. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be at the summit alongside Xi.

The main summit on Wednesday — and sideline meetings Tuesday and Thursday — are expected to produce general calls for more cooperation among countries in the Global South amid their rising discontent over perceived Western dominance of global institutions.

That’s a sentiment that Russia and China are more than happy to lean into. Leaders or representatives of dozens more developing countries are set to attend the sideline meetings in Africa’s wealthiest city to give Xi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who will represent Putin in South Africa, a sizeable audience.

One specific policy point with more direct implications will be discussed and possibly decided on — the proposed expansion of the BRICS bloc, which was formed in 2009 by the emerging market countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and added South Africa the following year.

Saudi Arabia is one of more than 20 countries to have formally applied to join BRICS in another possible expansion, South African officials say. Any move toward the inclusion of the world’s second-biggest oil producer in an economic bloc with Russia and China would clearly draw attention from the United States and its allies in an extra-frosty geopolitical climate, and amid a recent move by Beijing to exert some influence in the Persian Gulf.

“If Saudi Arabia were to enter BRICS, it will bring extraordinary importance to this grouping,” said Talmiz Ahmad, India’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Even an agreement on the principle of expanding BRICS, which already consists of a large chunk of the developing world’s biggest economies, is a moral victory for the Russian and Chinese vision for the bloc as a counterbalance to the G-7, analysts say.

Both favor adding more countries to bolster a kind of coalition — even if it’s only symbolic — amid China’s economic friction with the U.S. and Russia’s Cold War-like standoff with the West because of the war in Ukraine.

Nations ranging from Argentina to Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates have all formally applied to join alongside the Saudis, and are also possible new members.

If a number of them are brought in, “then you end up with a bigger economic bloc, and from that a sense of power,” said Prof. Alexis Habiyaremye of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg.

While Brazil, India and South Africa are less keen on expansion and seeing their influence diluted in what’s currently an exclusive developing world club, there is momentum for it. Nothing has been decided, though, and the five countries must first agree on the criteria new members need to meet. That’s on the agenda in Johannesburg amid Beijing’s push.

“BRICS expansion has become the top trending issue at the moment,” said Chen Xiaodong, China’s ambassador to South Africa. “Expansion is key to enhancing (the) BRICS mechanism’s vitality. I believe that this year’s summit will witness a new and solid step on this front.”

The U.S. has stressed its bilateral ties with South Africa, Brazil and India in an attempt to offset any outsized Russian and Chinese influence emanating from BRICS. In the buildup to the summit, the State Department said that the U.S. was “deeply engaged with many of the leading members of the BRICS association.”

The European Union also will closely follow happenings in Johannesburg, but with almost sole focus on the war in Ukraine and the bloc’s continued effort to draw united condemnation for Russia’s invasion from the developing world, which has largely failed so far.

With Xi, Lula, Modi and Ramaphosa coming together, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said the EU was calling on them to use the moment to uphold international law.

“We look forward to their contribution to make Putin stop his illegal, destabilizing behavior,” Stano said.

If a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Cape Town in June, the precursor to the main summit, is anything to go by, there will be no public criticism of Russia or Putin over the war. A planned protest by the Amnesty International rights group and the Ukrainian Association of South Africa outside the Sandton Convention Centre will likely be the only condemnation heard.

If anything, Russia might see the summit as an opportunity to leverage some favor.

Having halted a deal allowing the passage of grain out of Ukraine last month, Putin might use the BRICS gathering to announce more free Russian grain shipments to developing countries, as he has already done for several African nations, said Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It would allow Putin to demonstrate “goodwill” to the developing world, Snegovaya said, while cutting Ukraine out of the process.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would have “full-fledged participation” in the summit despite appearing on a video link and would make a speech.

What’s also likely to be aired regularly over the three days in Johannesburg is the developing world’s gripes over current global financial systems. That has streamlined in the months and weeks leading up to the summit into a criticism of the dominance of the U.S. dollar as the world’s currency for international trade.

BRICS experts are generally united in pointing out the difficulties the bloc has in implementing policy due to the five countries’ differing economic and political priorities, and the tensions and rivalry between China and India. 

But a focus on more trade in local currencies is something all of them can get behind, said Cobus van Staden, an analyst at the China Global South Project, which tracks Chinese engagement across the developing world.

He sees BRICS pushing a move away from the dollar in regional trade in some parts of the world in the same way he sees this summit as a whole.

“None of this is the big sword that’s going to slay the dollar. That’s not the play,” said van Staden. “It’s not one big sword wound, it’s a lot of paper cuts. It won’t kill the dollar, but it’s definitely making the world a more complicated place.”

“They don’t need to defeat the dollar … and they don’t need to defeat the G7. All they particularly want to do is raise an alternative to it. It’s this much longer play,” he said.
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Several thousand people demonstrated in the capital of Niger on Sunday in support of last month’s military coup, whose leader has warned against outside intervention while proposing a three-year transition of power.

The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power France and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum if negotiations with coup leaders fail.

The Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned demonstrations but in practice, those in support of the coup are permitted.

The demonstrators waved placards saying “Stop the military intervention” and “No to sanctions,” a reference to cuts in financial aid and trade restrictions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since the July 26 coup.

Sunday’s rally was accompanied by musicians endorsing the new military regime, AFP journalists reported.

The latest in a string of pro-coup rallies came a day after the new ruler in Niamey, General Abdourahamane Tiani, warned that a foreign military incursion into Niger would not be a “walk in the park.”

In a televised address late Saturday, Tiani also said he did not want to “confiscate” power and promised a return to civilian rule within three years.

Niger’s new leaders have accused France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the anti-coup stance taken by ECOWAS, which on Saturday made a fresh push for a diplomatic solution by sending to Niamey a delegation led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Unlike a previous mission in early August, this time the delegation held talks with Tiani and also met Bazoum, who is being held with his family at the presidential palace and could be facing treason charges.

Images on Niger television showed Bazoum smiling and shaking hands with members of the delegation.

“There is still hope,” Abubakar said in televised comments, saying the visit had resulted in finding “a key for pursuing talks until an outcome for this difficult situation.”

An ECOWAS source confirmed that the delegation had returned to the Nigerian capital Abuja on Sunday.

Diplomatic push

In his televised address on Saturday, Tiani alleged that ECOWAS was “getting ready to attack Niger by setting up an occupying army in collaboration with a foreign army,” without saying which country he meant.

But he added: “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think.”

Tiani also announced a 30-day period of “national dialogue” to draw up “concrete proposals” to lay the foundations of “a new constitutional life.”

ECOWAS leaders say they have to act now that Niger has become the fourth West African nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

The bloc has agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger.

The Sahel region is struggling with growing jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Those behind the military takeovers have pointed to frustration over the violence to justify seizing power.

On Sunday, Pope Francis urged a diplomatic solution to a political crisis in Niger and its potential impact on stability in the region.

“I join with prayer the efforts of the international community to find a peaceful solution as soon as possible for the good of everyone,” Francis said in an address after his Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
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A global aid official urged the international community Sunday to provide more funds to help Sudanese citizens trapped by a monthslong military conflict between rival generals in the African nation.

Jagan Chapagain, the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said his organizations have received only 7% of the $45 million they appealed for to help those inside Sudan. The war pits the military against the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“The needs are real,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in Cairo. “Sudanese people need urgent support, urgent solidarity and urgent interest.”

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when simmering tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.

The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields. Many residents live without water and electricity, and the country’s health care system has nearly collapsed. The sprawling region of Darfur saw some of the worst bouts of violence in the conflict, and the fighting there has morphed into ethnic clashes with RSF and allied Arab militia targeting ethnic African communities.

Clashes also intensified earlier this month in the provinces of South Kordofan and West Kordofan. A rebel group attacked Kadugli, the provincial capital of South Kordofan and clashed with the military, killing and displacing civilians, according to the U.N. mission in Sudan.

In al-Fula, the provincial capital of West Kordofan, fighting erupted for days between the military and the RSF before local officials helped stop the clashes, the U.N. mission, known as UNITAMS, said Sunday. But government offices, banks and the offices of the U.N. and other aid agencies were looted, it said

More than 3.4 million people were forced to flee their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, according to the United Nations’ migration agency. Over a million crossed into neighboring countries, including Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Central African Republic, the agency added.

Chapagain called for the international community to show the same solidarity with Sudanese people they showed last year when they rushed to help those who fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I see the humanitarian side of the Ukraine is a good example. That’s how the world community can come together. We need a similar solidarity for Sudan now,” he said.

Along with the $45 million needed to help those inside Sudan, Chapagain said another $35 million is needed to provide assistance to those who fled the fighting to Sudan’s neighboring countries.

His comments came following a trip to the Egyptian border with Sudan, where he met with customs officials and Sudanese refugees who fled the fighting in Khartoum. Egypt received more than 272,000 Sudanese as of Aug. 1, according to official figures.

Although the operations at the Egyptian side of the border were organized, he said, there were long lines for people on the Sudanese side waiting to be allowed into Egypt. He said between 400 and 600 people are crossing daily into Egypt compared to thousands in the first weeks of the war.

The Egyptian government had allowed women and children to cross without visas in the first weeks of the war, but in June it began requiring visas for all Sudanese citizens despite objections from activists and rights groups.

Chapagain said the Egyptian government is under economic pressure as they are hosting more than 9 million migrants, including Sudanese, Syrians and others, as well as the country’s growing population of over 105 million.

“They want to be generous. They want to be welcoming,” he said. “But at the same time, they do have concern in the sense that … they are still a developing country.”
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Somalia’s Ministry of Communications and Technology is ordering the country’s internet service providers to turn off access for social media companies TikTok, Telegram, and the gambling site 1xBet.

The Minister of Communications and Technology, Jama Hassan Khalif, gave the order in a statement issued Sunday, citing security and fighting terrorism as reasons for blocking the companies.

The statement said constant violations by terror groups using social media sites affected the safety and stability of society.

In addition, the Ministry said it’s working to protect the moral conduct of the Somali people when using communication and internet tools that have affected the way of life and have increased “bad practices,” according to the statement.

“You are being ordered to shut down the applications mentioned above by Thursday August 24, 2023 at 11:30 evening, at the latest,” Khalif said in the statement. “Anyone who does not follow this order will face clear and appropriate legal measures.”

The al-Shabab militant group regularly uses Telegram’s messaging service to publish its videos, press releases, and posts audio of interviews with their commanders.

Al-Shabab often posts news about its attacks within minutes on Telegram and websites. The group regularly creates new accounts as soon as their Telegram accounts are taken down.

TikTok is believed to be fastest growing site in Somalia. It is used by young people and even government officials.

Last week, TikTok posted a statement saying it has hosted a series of workshops with various stakeholders in Somalia aimed at keeping the platform safe.

“In Somalia, our team removed over 280,000 videos during the same period that violated its guidelines,” the statement said.

“We detected and removed 98.7% of these violating videos before they were reported. Our proactive approach showcases our commitment to maintaining a safe and compliant platform for our users.” https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-africa/digital-safety-a-shared-responsibility-we-are-proud-to-prioritise

The Ministry’s move was criticized by social media users. Abdulkadir Ali Mohamud who is popularly known as Bilaal Bulshaawi, with 1.2 million followers on TikTok said the order will not be implemented.

“It’s not going to work because the [internet] companies have the power to allow this shut down,” he said. “It’s not in the interest of the companies to stop the services because it’s the most used application and the customers use a lot of data.”

Another prolific social media user who did not want to be identified described the government’s move as a “Ridiculous knee-jerk reaction to a serious issue.”

“Rather than create policy around how to target immoral social media accounts, they have settled for a blanket ban,” he said. “A normal government would have engaged the platforms in question and established communication protocols to target specific accounts. There are hundreds of Somali TikTok celebrities that make decent living from TikTok who now have to look elsewhere.”

Khalif defended the move in an interview with VOA Somali, insisting the sites are “hurting the state.”

“These sites are misused, they have created security problems, they are used to destroy the security and society, they promote immoral behavior,” he said.  

“Due to this great need to ban them it is the right time to take this decision.”  

Somali authorities did not give the number of people who are using betting sites in the country, but said they believe the sites are repatriating large amount of money out of the country.  

Khalif said betting on 1XBET is even distracting government soldiers who are fighting defending the nation.  

“We know the use is expansive,” he said.

He said the government does not know the people behind these sites in the country.   

“That kind of money is not Halal (permissible), no one taxes it, no one knowns what they are and where they come from; and it’s crime.”

Last year, the Somali government ordered internet service providers to block al-Shabab websites, but some of the sites remain to accessible globally to date.

“The federal government of Somalia recognized as crime the dissemination of terrorist messages and encouraging their acts of brutality – by any media or person on social media. Action will be taken according to the law to any[one] who failed this resolution,”the government statement said at the time.

The Ministry Communication and Technology said it has launched a public awareness campaign to warn the public about the dangers of communication and the Internet, which makes it easy to spread news and unfounded information that harms innocent people or incites the community.
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Armed gunmen killed at least 23 people and wounded 12 in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Sunday.

Sidi Mohamed El Bechir, governor of the Bandiagara region where the attack took place, said unidentified men killed nearly two dozen people Friday and set fire to several homes in the village of Yarou.

“The assailants stayed in the village until 7 p.m. and burned down part of the village, smashed stores and took away the villagers’ cattle,” said Amadou Lougue, president of the regional youth organization on Sunday. The attack has not been claimed.

Communities across central and northern Mali have been in the grips of protracted armed violence since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in the West African nation’s northern cities the following year, with the help of a French-led military operation. But they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.

Friday’s attack in the central Mopti region took place on the same day that the Malian army accused armed extremists of aiming a rocket at the western city of Timbuktu, 170 miles (275 kilometers) north of Bandiagara.

Elements of JNIM, a West African jihadi group linked with al-Qaida, placed a blockade on the ancient trading city nearly two weeks ago in response to an influx of Malian soldiers and foreign mercenaries into the area.

The blockade has caused shipments of food and other goods to halt. Boubacar Sadigh Ould Taled, a legislator in Mali’s interim junta-led government, said many residents of the nearby town of Ber have fled due to insecurity following the arrival of Malian troops and those from the Russian mercenary group Wagner in early August.

The recent uptick in insecurity in the area likely stems from the departure of a U.N. peacekeeping mission from its base in Ber, which has been under the control of separatist rebels since they signed a peace deal with the Malian government in 2015. A July U.N. resolution said the peacekeeping mission would be shuttered after a decade of operations.

Since a military junta seized power of the country in 2020, Mali has increasingly renounced intervention by Western nations, opting instead to unofficially partner with the Wagner Group to help regain control from armed groups in the center and north.

Analysts fear the 2015 peace deal, mediated with help from Algeria and the U.N. mission known as MINUSMA, may fall apart after the peacekeepers leave. The insecurity in Ber, which caused peacekeepers to leave earlier than planned, has become an early testing ground for post-MINUSMA Mali.
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In interviews with VOA, medical aid groups are calling on Sudan’s government to cut through bureaucracy and allow them to get vital medical supplies to hospitals in the war-torn country. In this report from Renk, South Sudan, close to the Sudan border, Henry Wilkins also speaks to nonprofit staff who say they are detecting a measles outbreak in new arrivals, which Sudan no longer has the lab capacity to detect itself.
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A delegation from regional nations arrived in Niger on Saturday afternoon in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to reach a peaceful solution with mutinous soldiers who ousted the country’s president last month. 

The representatives from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, came to the capital, Niamey, and joined efforts by the United Nations special representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, who arrived on Friday, in trying to find a resolution to the ongoing crisis. 

On Friday, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Simao would meet with the junta and other parties to try to facilitate a swift and peaceful resolution to Niger’s crisis. 

“What we want to see is a return to the constitutional order. We want to see the liberation of the president and his family, and restoration of his legitimate authority,” he said. 

On August 10, the Economic Community of West African States ordered the deployment of a “standby force” to restore constitutional rule in the country. 

The soldiers who overthrew Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July have quickly entrenched themselves in power, rebuffed most dialogue efforts, and kept Bazoum, his wife and son under house arrest in the capital. 

ECOWAS troops ‘ready to go’

On Friday, the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said 11 of its 15 member states agreed to commit troops to a military deployment, saying they were “ready to go” whenever the order was given. 

The 11 member states don’t include Niger itself and the bloc’s three other countries under military rule following coups: Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The latter two have warned they would consider any intervention in Niger an act of war. On Friday, Niger’s state television said that Mali and Burkina Faso had dispatched warplanes in a show of solidarity. 

Friday’s announcement is the latest in a series of empty threats by ECOWAS to forcefully restore democratic rule in Niger, conflict analysts say. 

Immediately after the coup, the bloc gave the junta seven days to release and restore Bazoum, a deadline that came and went with no action. 

“The putschists won’t be holding their breath this time over the renewed threat of military action,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank. Meanwhile, the mutinous soldiers are cementing their rule and appointing loyal commanders to key units while ECOWAS has no experience with military action in hostile territory and would have no local support if it tried to intervene, he said. 

“Niger is a very fragile country that can easily turn, in case of a military intervention, into a failed state like Sudan,” Laessing said. 

ECOWAS used force to restore order in a member country in 2017 in Gambia, when longtime President Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after he lost the presidential election. But even in that case, the move had involved diplomatic efforts led by the then-presidents of Mauritania and Guinea, while Jammeh appeared to be acting on his own after the Gambian army pledged allegiance to the winner of the election, Adama Barrow. 

Also on Saturday, the new United States Ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, arrived in the capital, said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department. The U.S. hasn’t had an ambassador in the country for nearly two years. 

FitzGibbon will focus on advocating for a diplomatic solution that preserves constitutional order in Niger and for the immediate release of Bazoum, his family, and all those unlawfully detained, Miller said. Her arrival does not reflect a change in the U.S. policy position, he said. 

Many residents side with junta

On the streets of the capital Saturday, many residents said they’re preparing to fight back against an ECOWAS military intervention. 

Thousands of people in Niamey lined up outside the main stadium to register as volunteers, fighters and to help with other needs in case the junta requires support. Some parents brought their children to sign up; others said they’d been waiting since 3 a.m., while groups of youths boisterously chanted in favor of the junta and against ECOWAS and the country’s former colonial ruler, France. 

“I am here for the recruitment to become a good soldier. We are all here for that,” said Ismail Hassan, a resident waiting in line to register. “If God wills, we will all go.” 

Event organizer Amsarou Bako said the junta was not involved in finding volunteers to defend the coup, although it is aware of the initiative. Hours after the drive started, the organizers said it would be postponed, but didn’t explain why. 

Millions hungry, thousands displaced

The humanitarian situation in the country is also on the agenda of the U.N.’s West Africa and Sahel special representative. 

Before the coup, nearly 3 million people were facing severe food insecurity and hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, according to CARE, an international aid group. Economic and travel sanctions imposed by ECOWAS after the coup, coupled with the deteriorating security, will have dire consequences for the population, CARE said. 

Previously, Western countries saw Niger as one of the last democratic nations they could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and they poured millions of dollars of military aid and assistance into shoring up Niger’s forces. 

Since the coup, former jihadis told The Associated Press that militants have been taking advantage of the freedom of movement caused by suspended military operations by the French and the U.S. and a distracted Nigerien army that is focusing efforts on the capital. 

Last week, at least 17 soldiers were killed and 20 injured during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Niger’s army in six months. A day later, at least 50 civilians were killed in the Tillaberi region by extremists believed to be members of the Islamic State group, according to an internal security report for aid groups seen by the AP. 

“While Niger’s leaders are consumed by politics in the capital, the drumbeat of lethal jihadist attacks goes on in the countryside,” said Corinne Dufka a political analyst who specializes in the Sahel region. 

“The recent attacks should motivate all parties to work for as speedy and inclusive a transition as possible so they can get back to the crucial business of protecting civilians from the devastating consequences of war. In due time, Nigeriens and their partners should look long and hard at why and how democracy in Niger faltered,” she said.  
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Aissata Sall was scrolling through WhatsApp in May when she first learned about the new route to the United States. For Ibrahima Sow, the discovery came on TikTok a few weeks later.

By the time their paths crossed at the tidy one-story brick house in Cincinnati, they had encountered hundreds of other Mauritanians, nearly all of them following a new path surging in popularity among younger migrants from the West African nation, thanks largely to social media.

“Four months ago, it just went crazy,” said Oumar Ball, who arrived in Cincinnati from Mauritania in 1997 and recently opened his home to Sow, Sall and more than a dozen other new migrants. “My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

The spike in migration was made possible by the discovery this year of a new route through Nicaragua, where relaxed entry requirements allow Mauritanians and a handful of other foreign nationals to purchase a low-cost visa without proof of onward travel.

As word of the entry point spreads, travel agencies and paid influencers have taken to TikTok to promote the trip, selling packages of flights that leave from Mauritania, then connect through Turkey, Colombia and El Salvador, and wind up in Managua, Nicaragua. From there, the migrants, along with asylum seekers from other nations, are whisked north by bus with the help of smugglers.

“The American dream is still available,” promises a video on TikTok, one of dozens of similar posts from French-speaking “guides” that help Mauritanians make the trip. “Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.”

“We wish you success. Nicaragua loves you very much,” a man working for a travel agency says in Spanish in another video.

The influx of Mauritanians has surprised officials in the U.S. It came without a triggering event — such as a natural disaster, coup or sudden economic collapse — suggesting the growing power of social media to reshape migration patterns: From March to June, more than 8,500 Mauritanians arrived in the country by crossing the border illegally from Mexico, up from just 1,000 in the four months prior, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

The new arrivals likely now outnumber the estimated 8,000 foreign-born Mauritanians previously living in the U.S., about half of whom are in Ohio. Many arrived in the 1990s as refugees after the Arab-led military government began expelling Black citizens.

Some who left say they’re again fleeing state violence directed against Black Mauritanians. Racial tensions have increased since the May death of a young Black man, Oumar Diop, in police custody, with the government moving aggressively to crush protests and disconnect the country’s mobile internet.

The nation was one of the last to criminalize slavery, and the practice is widely believed to persist in parts of the country. Several Mauritanians who spoke to The Associated Press said police targeted them because of anti-slavery activism.

“Life is very difficult, especially for the Black Mauritanian population,” said Sow, 38, who described himself as an activist in the country. “The authorities became threatening and repressive.”

It became difficult to fight, he said, and his life was threatened. So he fled via the new route to Cincinnati, where he’d heard a thriving Mauritanian community was helping new arrivals get on their feet.

Previously, applying for asylum in the U.S. meant flying to Brazil, then risking a dangerous trek through the dense jungle of the Darien Gap. The new route through Nicaragua bypasses that link.

The trip can cost $8,000 to $10,000, a hefty sum that some families manage by selling land or livestock. With economic growth over the past decade, Mauritania has moved into the lower ranks of middle-income countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency, but the poverty rate remains high, with 28.2% living below the poverty line.

The Nicaragua route also allows migrants to avoid the boat voyages to Europe that have killed tens of thousands in the past decade. Mauritanian and Spanish authorities have cracked down on boats crossing the Atlantic for Spain’s Canary Islands, and people are increasingly being intercepted after trekking to North Africa to try to cross the Mediterranean. Flying to Nicaragua is legal, and the rest of the trip is on land — attractive options for Mauritanians and others who want to leave Africa.

The new passage presents a rare opportunity to a generation yearning for a better life, said Bakary Tandia, a Mauritanian activist living in New York: “No matter what is your burning desire to come, if there is no route, you will not even think about it. The reality is: People are seeing a window of opportunity, that’s why they are rushing.”

Still, some who’ve followed the Nicaragua route say they were misled about potential dangers and the future awaiting them in the U.S. This month, a bus carrying migrants tumbled down a steep hillside in Mexico, killing 18 people, including one Mauritanian. Two other Mauritians were hospitalized.

Sall, a 23-year-old nurse, said she was robbed of her remaining money on a bus in Mexico by men dressed as police officers. After crossing the border, she was hospitalized with dehydration.

“On WhatsApp they say, ‘Oh, it’s not very difficult.’ But it’s not true,” she said. “We confront so much pain along the way.”

Ibrahim Dia, a 38-year-old who owns a cleaning company in the Mauritanian city of Nouadhibou, said his brother left the country in June, following the Nicaragua trip he’d seen countless others take in recent months. But he was detained at the border and remains jailed at a Texas detention site, Dia said.

Many Mauritanians enter the U.S. in Yuma, Arizona. Some are dropped off on a Mexican highway by smugglers for a roughly two-hour walk through a knee-deep river and flat desert shrub and rocks. They surrender to Border Patrol agents in Yuma waiting under stadium lights where a wall built during Donald Trump’s presidency abruptly ends.

After a period of detention and screening that could last hours or days, they may enter the country to await a court date, a process that can take years. Others are kept in detention for weeks, or placed on a small number of flights deporting them back to Mauritania.

Human rights groups have called on the Biden administration to grant Temporary Protected Status to Mauritania, pointing to reports of abuse against Black residents who are deported after fleeing.

Those who can enter are often put in touch with a close-knit group of American and Mauritanian-born advocates who connect them to housing and help pay for flights across the U.S. Some head to Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas or New York, where an overwhelmed shelter system has left migrants — many from Mauritania and elsewhere in Africa — sleeping on the sidewalk.

Ohio remains the most common destination. Several thousands have found their way to Cincinnati, settling in with the small but vibrant existing community. A group of volunteers, led by longtime resident Ball, help with paperwork and adjustments to the country. Some days, Ball makes multiple trips to the airport to pick up people coming from the border, bringing them to his home or a block of apartments rented out by the community.

On a recent Friday evening, more than a dozen Mauritanians carpooled to a nearby mosque to pray. After the service, they piled into the living room of another friend’s house for dinner: steaming bowls of lamb and couscous served on the floor, with cans of Coca-Cola. A women’s World Cup game played as the group discussed their pasts and futures.

Sall, the onetime nurse, said she wants to go back to school. She’s taken on an unofficial role as cook in the house she shares with others new to Ohio. She hopes to stay in Cincinnati with the community that’s embraced her and many others.

“The Mauritanian people gave me a big welcome,” she said. “And they gave me hope.”
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U.N. human rights officials on Friday denounced what they called the “extreme brutality” of gangs in Haiti, with thousands fleeing several neighborhoods in the country’s capital this week amid a surge in violence.

The killings have intensified in recent weeks as a reconnaissance mission from Kenya composed of nearly a dozen senior police officers was expected to arrive in Haiti on Friday, Kenyan media reported.

The eastern African country has offered to lead an international force to help Haiti’s understaffed police department quell gang violence. Haiti has about 10,000 officers to serve the Caribbean nation’s more than 11 million people.

Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Noor Gabow, who is leading the Kenyan mission, did not return a message seeking comment.

Earlier this month, the United States said it would introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize Kenya to lead a multinational police force and provide 1,000 officers. No timetable for the resolution has been given.

Kenya’s announcement raised concerns, given that its police force has been accused of killings and torture. On Wednesday, a former police officer considered to be Haiti’s most powerful gang leader warned he would fight any foreign armed force if it committed any abuses.

From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among those killed this week is a local municipal representative, his wife and child, she said.

Shamdasani said that the Grand Ravine gang began attacking several neighborhoods last week, killing some people for supporting a violent uprising by civilians that targets suspected gang members.

Since late April to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched as part of the movement dubbed “bwa kale.” Among them are 310 alleged gang members, 46 members of the public and a police officer, she said.

A Haitian nonprofit group reported that at least 15 people were killed from Aug. 13 to 16 during the attack by the Grand Ravine gang, including two police officers and two children. The Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights also said more than two dozen homes were torched.

Haiti’s National Police forced the gang out of one area on Tuesday, Shamdasani said.

“However, the situation remains extremely insecure as the police subsequently withdrew and gang members are still operating in surrounding areas,” she said.

The violence forced about 5,000 people to flee their homes this week. They joined more than 200,000 others who have done the same since last year, with many staying in makeshift and extremely unsanitary shelters.

On Thursday, Jerry Chandler, Haiti’s Civil Protection director, held a press conference to provide limited details on those affected by the recent surge in violence.

“Unfortunately, the Civil Protection cannot for the moment draw up an exhaustive assessment because we do not have access to the areas,” he said.

Chandler added that the government is distributing water and hot meals to those displaced.

Haitian gangs have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are estimated to now control up to 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.
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Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Security Council discusses DPRK human rights

The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday that many of the severe and widespread rights violations in North Korea are directly linked to the regime’s pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technology. Volker Türk told a special meeting of the Security Council on human rights in North Korea that the use of forced labor and confiscation of wages from overseas workers “all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons.”

Secretary-general proposes options for Haiti multinational force

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to “act now” and deploy a robust non-U.N. armed force to Haiti to support the national police in stopping the gang violence that is overwhelming the island nation. In a report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said the current situation is not conducive to a U.N. peacekeeping mission, and he offered two options for the United Nations to support a multinational force. The first would provide logistical support for the multinational force and the Haitian national police. The second option would be strengthening the U.N. special political mission in Haiti, known by its acronym BINUH, to expand its current support to the Haitian police.

Education envoy urges ICC to prosecute Taliban for gender discrimination

U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court should investigate and pursue charges against the Taliban for their denial of basic rights to Afghan women and girls. He told reporters that denying Afghan girls an education and women the right to work is gender discrimination, which should rise to the level of a crime against humanity and be prosecuted by The Hague-based tribunal.

U.N. and NGO leaders call for immediate cease-fire and ‘reset’ in Sudan

As the fighting in Sudan entered its fifth month this week, the heads of U.N. agencies and several NGO leaders issued a joint statement appealing to the parties to end the war. They said that the situation is spiraling out of control and that millions of Sudanese, including 6 million on the verge of famine, are paying the price.

In brief

— U.N. West Africa envoy Leonardo Santos Simão is due to arrive Friday in the capital of Niger. He is expected to meet with the military leaders behind the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum. A U.N. spokesperson said the envoy remains in contact with member states of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, stakeholders in Niger and other concerned parties in order to facilitate a swift and peaceful resolution to the crisis.

— U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths made a three-day visit to Myanmar this week, where he met with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Griffiths called for expanded humanitarian access and increased funding to assist 18 million people in need of assistance across the country. U.N. aid operations are only 22% funded eight months into the year. Nearly 2 million people are displaced inside Myanmar. Griffiths traveled to Rakhine State, which is still coping with the impact from cyclone Mocha three months ago.

— The U.N. children’s agency says Congo is facing its worst cholera outbreak since 2017 with more than 31,000 suspected or confirmed cases. At least 230 deaths were recorded from January to July, many of them children. UNICEF says North Kivu is the most affected province. With more than 6.3 million people displaced across the country, many in overcrowded camps without sufficient clean water, humanitarians worry about it being fertile ground for the disease to spread. UNICEF is appealing for $62.5 million to scale up its prevention and response activities over the next five months. Ethiopia is also dealing with a large cholera outbreak in the Oromia, Sidama, SNNP and Somali regions, where more than 16,800 cases have been reported, including 212 cholera-related deaths.

Did you know?

The General Assembly designated Aug. 19 as World Humanitarian Day to honor the work and sacrifice of humanitarians. The date is in memory of the 22 U.N. staffers who were killed on that day in 2003 when their Baghdad compound was struck in a suicide truck bomb attack. This year’s theme is the importance, effectiveness and positive impact of humanitarian work. Aid workers carry out their duties in complex and often dangerous environments. So far this year, 62 humanitarian workers have been killed, 84 wounded and 34 kidnapped.
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The United Nations human rights chief on Friday called on Niger’s generals to end their illegal takeover of the country, release the democratically elected president, and immediately restore constitutional order.

In a prepared statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted that the people of Niger, “one of the poorest countries in the world,” have been forced to endure even more misery following last month’s military coup.

“The people have already been through so much hardship over the years,” he said. “Now the very people who they elected to build a pathway to end their destitution have been removed by force against the constitutional order and detained by the coup leaders. They must be released at once, and democracy restored.”

President Mohamed Bazoom, his son, and wife have been held in reportedly “difficult living conditions” in the basement of his palace in Niamey since the July 26 coup.

Türk said he was very concerned about the coup leaders’ announced decision to prosecute Bazoom and his allies for high treason.

“This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected president but has no legal basis as the normal functioning of democratic institutions have been cast aside,” he said.

He warned this action would lead to further instability, repression, and suffering for the people in Niger, noting that there has been a noticeable clampdown on civic space since the generals took power.

“The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake,” he added. “President Bazoom was the first democratically elected president in the country’s coup-prone history in 2021. Generals cannot take it upon themselves to defy, at a whim, the will of the people.

“Rule-by-gun has no place in today’s world,” he said.

ECOWAS ready to intervene

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said it is ready to intervene militarily in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail to restore constitutional rule in the country.

U.N. human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani warned any military option carries with it potential risks. She said Türk is concerned about the regional implications of a military intervention and the impact it would have on the human rights and protection of civilians.

“As the high commissioner has pointed out, this is the sixth coup in the region in just the past three years, the others being Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso — two in Mali and two in Guinea. So, the regional implications of any security situation are already very clear,” she said.

Niger, like neighboring states in Africa’s Sahel region, has been battling violent Islamist and sectarian insurgencies for a decade, adding to the country’s poverty.

Commenting on the coup, Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “We are deeply concerned about the spiraling situation in Niger, a country that already faces two large-scale humanitarian crises in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad basin.”

Egeland warned of “very serious risks of further destabilization” for both the country and the wider volatile region.

“We are particularly worried about the fallout of any conflict on refugees coming from ECOWAS countries, and about new forced displacements an armed escalation could prompt,” he said.

Latest figures from the U.N. refugee agency puts the number of forcibly displaced people in Niger at 730,000. U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said that includes almost 350,000 refugees, just over 50,000 asylum seekers, and nearly 350,000 internally displaced people.

“The situation now is very fluid,” said Saltmarsh. “We have not as of yet seen significant cross-border movements of people from Niger since the coup … but, of course, we are monitoring the situation around the borders very, very closely and are ready to respond if needed.”

Millions hungry, vulnerable

More than 10 million people — over 40% of Niger’s population — is mired in extreme poverty.

Following the military coup, ECOWAS imposed trade and financial sanctions, which have resulted in severe power cuts, surging food prices and increased hardship for Niger’s impoverished masses.

According to preliminary analyses from the World Food Program, some 7.3 million moderately food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis.

“Already prior to the coup, one in six people needed humanitarian assistance,” said Egeland.

He said the sanctions and suspensions of development aid would worsen conditions for a population already under heavy strain, exposing an estimated 1.4 million people to additional risks “such as youth enrollment into armed groups, child labor and underage marriage.”

Human rights chief Türk said sanctions must not include humanitarian aid as millions of people are reliant on this assistance.

Spokesperson Shamdasani said the high commissioner insists any sanctions that are imposed “need to be very carefully targeted to assess the potential human rights impact on the population.”

She noted that more than 100 trucks carrying food and other livelihoods were stranded at the border between Benin and Niger due to the ECOWAS sanctions.

“We are calling at least for humanitarian exemptions to sanctions to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation in the country,” she said.
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Three weeks into the coup in Niger, the military junta continues to cling to power while West African army chiefs hold a second day of talks in Ghana to determine whether their next course of action is diplomacy or a military intervention.

West African defense ministers held a second day of talks on Friday in Ghana’s capital, Accra, where they are mapping out a possible military intervention if diplomacy fails to reinstate Niger’s deposed President Mohamed Bazoum. 

Rida Lyammouri, an analyst who has done a lot of field work in the Sahel/Lake Chad Basin, says the West African bloc, ECOWAS, is in a difficult position trying to discourage coups in the region but grappling with whether diplomacy or military intervention is the best deterrent. 

“At the moment there are still some divisions in terms of the military intervention not only between ECOWAS and the African Union but also among the ECOWAS members, as well as the position of regional members that are excluded from these meetings who are currently run by junta, – like Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea,” said Lyammouri.

Lyammouri, also a senior fellow at the Policy Center New South, a Moroccan-based policy research firm in Washington told VOA, a military intervention could not only be catastrophic to Niger but also to other countries in the already volatile region. And, he says, it could spill over beyond the Sahel. 

“I think North African countries do have a role to play in terms of their diplomatic effort – because North Africa should be and would be concerned if there’s a military intervention because of borders, Algeria specifically but also there are lots of economic and diplomatic ties between North Africa and Niger and West Africa in general. Morocco has a lot of economic interest with Niger in terms of food security – telecom, insurance, banking, etc,” said Lyammouri.

Emira Woods is the executive director of the Green Leadership Trust and also a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She applauds the recent efforts by regional religious leaders who visited Niamey. 

“We had an incredible engagement of faith leaders coming from the region to Niger, stepping forward to say war is not the answer, to say diplomacy must be first and foremost to find a path to the democratic process,” said Woods.

Woods says it is time for African unity and directly points the finger at the West.

“What we have before us is an incredible juxtaposition of the international community with its interest and focus on resources, particularly the uranium that’s in Niger, and building up military forces, training and equipping those military forces,” said Woods.

Most Western countries have condemned the coup and have thrown their support behind efforts by the African Union and the ECOWAS bloc.

Niger holds strategic economic and geopolitical significance internationally. Uranium and oil, two natural resources plentiful in Niger, are sought after in the international commodities market. And under President Bazoum, the country was a big ally to the West in the fight against insurgency groups in the region linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. 

Junta leaders have justified toppling the democratically elected president because they accused him of not handling rampant insecurity in some parts of the country. On Wednesday, 17 of its soldiers were killed in an ambush by insurgents about 60 kilometers from the Nigerien capital, Niamey, in an area that borders Burkina Faso.  

“What we have is an undermining of peace and security in the region that goes back to – the ouster of [Moammar] Gadhafi in Libya and the flow of weapons into Libya, and then from Libya throughout the region in the Sahel. What we have is a steady equipping of military actors and literally laying the groundwork for these military actors to gain power, strength, visibility and legitimacy in a way that has emboldened them to launch coups – from Mali, Burkina, to now Niger and of course you have a similar situation on the other side of the Sahel, in the Sudan region,” said Woods.

Sudan’s two rival generals have been engaged in a brutal war against each other the past four months, with no end in sight.  

 
…

Officials in Cameroon suspended the work contracts of several thousand foreign workers, including Africans, Chinese and Europeans, and ordered them to obtain work permits and pay taxes within a month or leave the country.

The Cameroon government said that only about 100 of more than 2,000 foreign workers from China, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad are authorized to work in gold mines and export timber near Cameroon’s eastern border with the Central African Republic.

More than 10,500 of an estimated 11,000 foreign workers in the central African nation do not have work permits, government officials said.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon’s employment minister, said a majority of foreign workers are acting in bad faith. By not paying taxes, foreign workers have deprived Cameroon of more than $25 million since January, he said.

Bakary said that this week government officials in Cameroon’s 360 districts were ordered to make sure foreign workers obtain work permits and pay taxes or leave within 30 days.

Cameroon’s employment ministry said that a relaunch of construction, mining and exploration for gas and oil has caused an influx of Chinese and European engineers.

The government said several thousand foreign workers in northern and eastern gold mines and forests deceived Cameroon consular officers to receive tourist visas.

The government said it cannot afford to allow more than 10,000 illegal foreign workers in Cameroon when more than 70% of its 27 million citizens either lack jobs or are underemployed.

Florent Djounou, who owns a wood company that employs 30 Chinese and eight Europeans, spoke on behalf of foreign workers at a meeting with Cameroon’s employment minister in Batouri, near Cameroon’s border with the Central African Republic.

He said that foreign workers understand they should respect Cameroon’s laws before carrying out economic activity, but that they were surprised when at least 1,000 contracts were suspended even before the Cameroon government publicly asked foreign workers to obtain permits.

European and Chinese workers often are able to obtain work permits, Djounou said, but Africans, especially those displaced by conflicts in their own countries, may not have the financial means to pay for their permits.

Prices of timber and wood have risen 15% because huge quantities of wood cannot leave eastern forests where the government has put a stop to activities of foreign workers, he said.

Bakary said foreign laborers will be allowed to work freely when they obtain their permits.

The employment of foreign workers is subject to special procedures in Cameroon. Potential workers are obliged to declare their wages and allowances, including transportation and accommodation, which are used to determine how much is paid to obtain a visa.

A 2022 law institutes a fee equivalent of two months’ wages for non-African workers and one month’s wages for African workers before work permits are issued. The law went into effect this year.
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The BRICS group of developing economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – meet in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday for their annual summit, during which expansion of the bloc is expected to figure high on the agenda.

On the surface, the members of this bloc have little in common. Brazil, India and South Africa are democracies, while China and Russia are autocracies. However, one thing they do share is a disillusionment with the current U.S.-led world order and a desire to create an alternative in which the Global South has more clout.

If the number of new countries looking to join the bloc is any indication, this is proving to be a popular idea. Some 40 nations, including Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are all interested in joining, and discussions about new members will likely feature high on the agenda of the summit, with BRICS members differing on the benefits of expansion.

While some analysts, including Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the acronym, say the group has not actually achieved much since its founding in 2009, Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue at the University of South Africa, disputes that.

“There are over 40 countries that have expressed an interest in joining BRICS,” said Kubayi. “Clearly those more than 40 countries have seen something, you know, some sort of benefit or use or value of BRICS to want to join it.”

And this is how South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor put it last week.

“The current geopolitical context has driven renewed interest in BRICS membership as countries of the Global South look for alternatives in a multipolar world.”

Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International affairs, said if more nondemocratic states join it could make the bloc more stridently anti-Western.

“Certainly, if BRICS expands and includes countries like Iran, this will definitely enhance the anti-Western tone and tenor of discussions,” said Gruzd.

Already, BRICS accounts for some 40% of the world’s population, and an estimated one-quarter of global gross domestic product. In terms of purchasing power parity, BRICS countries now have a larger share of global economic activity than G-7 countries.

A previously touted BRICS common currency is not something that will be discussed, according to South African organizers. However, the bloc’s New Development Bank does want to de-dollarize.

“The other issue that’s going to be talked about is the currencies that countries trade in and talk about more trade in local currencies rather than U.S. dollars,” said Gruzd.

Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Xi Jinping of China, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil have all confirmed their attendance. Russia will be sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while President Vladimir Putin will be taking part remotely as he is wanted for war crimes in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court.

As a signatory to the court, Pretoria would be obliged to arrest Putin if he entered the country, a diplomatic nightmare they have now avoided.

Separately, Ramaphosa will host Xi on the sidelines of the summit for an official state visit. China is South Africa’s biggest trading partner.
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If mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent, a high-ranking member of Bazoum’s political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press.

Boubacar Sabo, deputy secretary general for the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, said Bazoum had been “kidnapped” by members of the presidential guard who overthrew him on July 26 and have since kept him under house arrest.

“What is happening in Niger, if it succeeds, is the end of democracy in Africa. It’s over. … If we fight today, it is to prevent these kind of things from happening and to ensure a future for our continent,” Sabo said Thursday.

In a region rife with coups, Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The overthrow of the president nearly one month ago has been a big blow to the United States, France and other European nations, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into training Niger’s army and — in the case of the French — conducting joint military operations.

Since the military seized power, in what analysts and locals say was triggered by an internal struggle between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he’s now in charge, it’s been shoring up support among the population, exploiting grievances toward its former colonial ruler France and silencing opposers.

Sabo is one of the few openly outspoken critics of the junta still in the country and not in hiding.

Several ministers and high-ranking politicians are detained, with human rights groups saying they are unable to access them, while others have been threatened, he said. Sabo called the groundswell of support for the regime in the capital deceptive, because the junta was paying people to rally in its favor. Niamey was also never a stronghold for Bazoum and the junta is being opportunistic, he said.

Pro junta rallies happen almost daily with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching through the streets, honking cars and waving Nigerien and Russian flags and chanting “down with France.” The junta has severed military agreements with France and asked Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group for help.

But although there was real frustration from political parties and civil society organizations toward Bazoum’s party, including disagreements with its military alliance with France, it’s unclear how much genuine support the junta has in the capital and across the country, Sahel experts say.

“While many of those protesters may support the transition, it is probably the case that a sizeable amount of them are present only for monetary reasons or out of curiosity and the thrill of being part of the crowd,” said Adam Sandor, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth.

The junta could face challenges with its support base across the country if it can’t financially appease local elites and if the army continues to suffer losses from growing jihadi violence, he said.

Attacks by jihadis are increasing since the coup, with at least 17 soldiers killed and 20 injured earlier this week during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Niger’s army in six months.

Militants are taking advantage of a gap in support by France and the United States, which have both suspended military operations in the country, as well as Niger’s distracted security forces, which are focusing on the capital and concerned about a potential invasion from regional countries, say conflict experts.

The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS has threatened to take military action if Niger doesn’t release and reinstate Bazoum. It has activated a “standby” force and on Friday its defense chiefs are wrapping up a two-day meeting about next steps.

Meanwhile, in Niamey and across the country, a volunteer recruitment drive is expected Saturday where people can register to fight and help with other needs so the junta has a list in case it needs to call on people for help.

“We know that our army may be be less in terms of numbers than the armies (coming),” said Amsarou Bako, one of the organizers. “Those who are coming, they have information about our army,” he said.
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A total of 62 humanitarian aid workers have died this year around the world, the United Nations said Thursday as it prepared to mark 20 years since a devastating attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

The U.N. observes World Humanitarian Day on Aug. 19 each year as it remembers the suicide bombing, which claimed 22 lives, including that of Sergio Vieira de Mello, then the U.N. high commissioner for human rights and the head of the U.N. mission in Iraq.

Besides the 62 deaths this year in the world’s conflict zones, another 84 aid workers were wounded and 34 were kidnapped, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, compiled by the consulting firm Humanitarian Outcomes. The fatality figure for all of 2022 was 116.

For several years running, South Sudan has been the world’s most dangerous place for aid workers. As of Aug. 10, there had been 40 attacks on humanitarian staffers there with 22 lives lost, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Next on the list was Sudan to the north, with 17 attacks on aid workers and 19 deaths so far this year. Such high figures had not been seen since the Darfur conflict from 2006 to 2009.

Other countries where humanitarian workers died include the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia, Ukraine and Yemen.

“The risks we face are beyond human comprehension,” says a report compiled by NGOs including Doctors of the World, Action Against Hunger and Handicap International, with help from the European Union.

Every year more than 90% of the people who die in attacks on aid workers are locals, according to the International NGO Safety Organization.

This year World Humanitarian Day marks 20 years since the bombing in Baghdad against the Canal Hotel, which was serving as the U.N. headquarters in the Iraqi capital.

That 2003 blast, carried out amid the chaos of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, killed 22 people, including the Brazilian Vieira de Mello, and wounded around 150 local and international aid workers.

“World Humanitarian Day and the Canal Hotel bombing will always be an occasion of mixed and still raw emotions for me and many others,” said the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths.

“Every year, nearly six times more aid workers are killed in the line of duty than were killed on that dark day in Baghdad, and they are overwhelmingly local aid workers,” he added. “Impunity for these crimes is a scar on our collective conscience.”

As upheavals around the world have grown, the United Nations says it is working to help nearly 250 million people living in crisis areas. That is 10 times more than in 2003.
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