Musings From Abroad

Spain’s PM Sanchez visits West Africa with plans to address migration surge

Published

4 months ago

August 26, 2024

On Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez embarks on his second trip to West Africa this year to reduce migration to the Canary Islands and oppose Russian influence in the Sahel.

According to figures from the European Union border agency, Frontex, the number of persons migrating via the West African route has increased by 154% this year, with 21,620 people arriving to the Canary Islands in the first seven months.

Resources on the Spanish archipelago have been overextended by the surge, and local officials fear they may have to put migrants in military camps or even tents in anticipation of a spike in arrivals brought on by calmer weather in the Atlantic Ocean.

Spanish officials worry that in the upcoming months, up to 150,000 additional African migrants will attempt the dangerous journey.

Nearly half of the recent entrants, according to Frontex data, are Malians who were driven from their nation due to an economic and political crisis that involves the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner.

Sanchez is concentrating on fortifying ties with the primary places from which migrant boats depart: Mauritania, Senegal, and Gambia. Mali’s borders are shared by the first two.

As part of Madrid’s plan to provide financial and security support to the places from which migrant boats sail, Spanish police have been strengthening border control in West Africa for a considerable amount of time.

According to a government source, Spain will negotiate circular migration agreements with Mauritania and the Gambia during this trip. It already has one with Senegal.

These agreements will allow workers from these nations to temporarily enter Spain to meet labour demands before returning to their home countries.

In addition, Spain intends to visit Mali again after the EU military operation there was closed in May of last year. According to a senior Spanish military commander, Spain is in talks with Bamako on bilateral military aid, whilst France pushed for the mission’s termination.

“We cannot leave the ground empty for Russian forces to occupy. It is important to maintain a presence in the region,” the officer, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
The Spanish mission could continue the training of the previous European mission, the source said.

The Ministry of Defence of Spain affirmed that discussions for cooperation with Mali were underway, but it did not elaborate. In light of the migration surge, Spain is pushing for a greater emphasis on the global south, particularly the Sahel, at the EU and NATO.

The co-director of the Institute for Conflict Studies and Humanitarian Action, Jesus Nunez Villaverde, stated that poverty and the consequences of climate change must be tackled in order to address the issues facing the Sahel.

“The solution is not military aid, which is a repetition of a failed model. A different kind of aid is needed,” he said.

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.