Musings From Abroad

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

Published

3 weeks 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.

Related Topics:Featured Pedro Sanchez Spain

Click to comment

Musings From Abroad

Blinken to address Gaza ceasefire and bilateral relations in Egypt

Published

1 day ago

September 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Concerned about rising tensions in the Middle East, United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday.

During his visit, he intends to further efforts to establish a truce in Gaza and fortify relations with Egypt, according to his spokesperson. The visit by the senior US diplomat occurs at a time when the area is still on high alert because of the possibility that the Gaza War could spread, especially after Hezbollah, a militant organisation, threatened to avenge Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers around Lebanon on Tuesday.

Regarding the explosions, Israel has not answered enquiries. Nearly 3,000 people were injured, and at least nine people lost their lives.

At a routine briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that while it was too soon to determine how the events in Lebanon might impact the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, diplomacy was thought to be the most effective means of easing tensions.

Before meeting with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and other officials on Wednesday morning, Blinken met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo.

How we achieve a plan that we think would get support from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas truce was “squarely on the table” in Blinken’s conversations with Egyptian officials, Miller added.

For weeks, American authorities have stated that a fresh plan for a settlement that would see the release of hostages that Hamas had kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, would be made available soon.

“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” Miller said.
According to a State Department official, Blinken will travel from Cairo to Paris on Thursday to meet with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, and Britain. During the meeting, they will talk about the Middle East, Ukraine, and other topics. According to the official, Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

This is the first time Blinken has skipped a stop in Washington’s closest regional ally, Israel since the Palestinian militant group Hamas started the Gaza War almost a year ago. Blinken will not be visiting Israel during this trip.

Miller explained that this was because Washington’s goal for this trip was to talk to Egypt about bilateral matters, and the proposal for a Gaza truce that the United States and its mediators have been working on was still not ready to be presented to Israel.

“So it would be premature to be presenting such a proposal, or doing any other diplomatic engagements,” he added.

In the crucial diplomatic effort to end the war, Egypt and Qatar have acted as a go-between for Hamas and Israel’s proposals and counterproposals. In an attempt to improve the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million war-torn citizens, Washington has also relied on Cairo.

In the raid on Israel last year, Palestinian militants claimed 1,200 lives and captured over 250 prisoners, according to Israeli accounts. Gaza claims that over 41,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory attack, which has essentially destroyed the territory.

Washington has sent billions of dollars into military aid to Egypt over their decades-long cooperation, even in the face of allegations of serious abuses, including torture and enforced disappearances, under Sisi’s regime. The Egyptian government refutes the charges.

Last week, Blinken lifted human rights requirements on U.S. foreign military assistance to Egypt, allowing the entire $1.3 billion for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, signalling Cairo’s growing prominence.

After promising to prioritise human rights in U.S.-Egypt relations, Seth Binder, director of advocacy for the Middle East Democracy Centre in Washington, stated that the Biden administration has “completely abandoned any pretence that human rights matter to the relationship.”

Musings From Abroad

3 Americans sentenced to death in DR Congo for thwarted coup

Published

4 days ago

September 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A military court has sentenced 37 accused persons to death for their roles in the failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May, including three US nationals.

On May 19, armed men took over the presidential residence in Kinshasa for a short while until security forces assassinated their leader, Christian Malanga, a politician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was living in the US.

Marcel Malanga, his son, and Tyler Thompson, a friend of Marcel’s who played football with him in high school in Utah, were two of the Americans on trial. They’re both in their 20s.

Christian Malanga’s business associate Benjamin Zalman-Polun was the third American.
All three received the death penalty in a decision that was read aloud on television after being convicted guilty of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, and other offences.

Malanga had already informed the court that his father had threatened to murder him if he didn’t take part. In addition, he informed the court that he was going to Congo for the first time at his father’s invitation—a relationship he had not had in a long time.

After the failed coup, some fifty individuals, including citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Belgium, and the Congo, are awaiting prosecution. Thirty-seven offenders received death sentences.

The decision was announced in the courtyard of the military jail Ndolo, which is located outside of Kinshasa, beneath a tent. The defendants, dressed in prison-issue blue and yellow tops, were seated in front of the judge.

July marked the start of the trial. Ambassador personnel were present at the proceedings, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in Washington, and they will keep a careful eye on any further developments.

“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision,” he told a briefing.

Jean-Jacques Wondo, a citizen of Belgium and Congo, is one of the 37 defendants. Before the trial, Wondo’s family made video messages to Congo President Félix Tshisekedi pleading for his release.