Sahel: Latest Global Terror Hub?

Background

The Sahel region refers to the vast area stretching from Mauritania’s Atlantic coast all the way to Eritrea. Culturally and historically, the Sahel is a shoreline between the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. This made it the site of interaction between the Arabic, Islamic and nomadic cultures from the north, and the indigenous cultures from the south. Although herders and farmers routinely competed over scarce resources, outright violence was restrained through customary arrangements and swift mediation from local leaders. In the current scenario, however, all that has changed.

Analysis

Since the regime change in Libya and the subsequent uprising in Northern Mali in 2012, the security situation in most of the Sahel region has gone from bad to worse.

In Mali, armed groups emerged in areas neglected by national authorities for decades. Poverty, unemployment and a total lack of state presence made the area’s conditions favourable for these militant groups to exploit locals and find new recruits. As of today, armed groups have multiplied, and violence has spread from the north to more central parts of the nation. A spillover has seen the conflict additionally spread to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger.

In Burkina Faso, thousands have been displaced in the northern provinces on the border with Mali. The country is experiencing unprecedented levels of violence, and the civilian population is either caught in the middle of these, or particularly targeted by, non-state actors and state security forces.

In Northeast Nigeria, armed conflict between the terrorist factions and the army has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. This violence has spread into neighbouring countries, with Niger, Cameroon and Chad all being drawn into the conflict. Although the Boko Haram is no longer a unified group, one of its factions, the IS West African Province (ISWAP), has been growing and contributing to increased violence in the region since the latter half of 2018.

To make matters worse, the countries of the Sahel are among the world’s most impoverished. Niger is at the rock bottom of the UN Human Development Index, with Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali ranking just above.

By March 2019, 4.2 million people had been displaced from their homes in the Sahel countries alone. Moreover, the Sahel has the world’s fastest-growing population (with a projected increase of 180 million by 2050) with a simultaneous decline in food production. This is because violence often forces farmers to flee from conflict areas. Closed markets and roads further reinforce the food shortages that have led to 33 million people in the region being declared ‘food-insecure’ by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).