Darfur follow-up
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Abdel Fattah Moussa, said that the military intervention that the organization had hinted at earlier had not been abandoned, due to what it considered a “dead end” in the ongoing mediations to resolve the crisis and negotiate with the military leaders.
Moussa explained, “Many matters are negotiable, but we will not, under any circumstances, accept a three-year transitional period, and constitutional order must be restored,” noting that “the dialogue is intermittent at the present time, despite our attempts to meet and talk to the military leaders in Niger.” .
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, expressed her concern about the repeal by the military junta in Niger of a law criminalizing the smuggling of migrants.
She pointed out that “the adoption of the law in Niger in 2015 led to a significant decrease in the number of irregular arrivals and the number of deaths in the desert.”
“In the past, we had very good and very close cooperation with Niger,” confirmed Elva, who visited Niger in February 2022.
Niger is considered a major partner of the European Union in managing migration flows and achieving stability in the region, and the repealed law stipulates penalties of “from one to 30 years in prison” against human traffickers.
Since its entry into force, and with financial support from the European Union, surveillance has been strengthened, including military surveillance, in the desert region of Agadez, an important transit point for thousands of Africans applying to migrate to Europe.
