Gambians Return to Their Homeland With Hopes of Reform
Thousands of Gambian refugees are returning from Senegal as the country’s new president pledges stability and reform. Exiled Gambian journalist Sanna Camara reports from the border region on the hopes of returning refugees.
#retour_au_pays #asile #migrations #réfugiés #réfugiés_gambiens #Gambie #Sénégal
As Gambia crisis passes, displaced return from Senegal
Several thousand people have returned to the Gambia since ex-president Yahya Jammeh ceded power. Over 50,000 remain in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.
▻http://reliefweb.int/report/gambia/gambia-crisis-passes-displaced-return-senegal?platform=hootsuite
Spark of Science : Pardis Sabeti - Issue 44 : Luck
▻http://nautil.us/issue/44/luck/spark-of-science-pardis-sabeti
During the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014, Pardis Sabeti led a team that sequenced virus genomes from infected patients, determining that the disease had most likely diverged from a strain in central Africa a decade earlier, and was transmitted through human contact, this time from a funeral in Guinea to Sierra Leone. Since then, Sabeti, a computational geneticist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute, has continued studying the genomes and evolution of a range of other microbes, looking for factors that play a role in epidemics in order to develop methods of intervention. “What an amazing and fulfilling life the life of a scientist can be,” she says. Sabeti was born in Tehran, Iran. Her family fled the coming 1979 Iranian Revolution when she was 2 years old (...)
Guinea inks $770 mln contract with Chinese firm to develop main port | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/guinea-economy-idUSL8N1CU6UA
China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) signed a $770 million contract with Guinea’s government on Monday to upgrade the port in the capital, Conakry, expanding Chinese economic influence in the West African iron and bauxite producer.
Under the contact, CHEC, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co Ltd, will construct three docks, roads and other infrastructure in the eastern zone of the port, providing parking for up to 600 trucks.
The port in Conakry handles nearly all goods shipped into Guinea, and to some landlocked neighbours like Mali. French logistics giant Bollore Group runs the port’s adjacent containers terminal.
Pirates attack and loot container ship off Guinea coast | News by Country | Reuters
▻http://af.reuters.com/article/guineaNews/idAFL8N1BX3TG
Pirates stormed a container ship off the coast of Guinea on Wednesday, making off with money and some of its cargo but leaving the crew unharmed, the government said.
They fired guns and briefly held the crew hostage while they were looting the ship named Wendok, Guinea government spokesman Albert Camara said by telephone.
He did not have details of the flag Wendok was flying under, the company running it, what its cargo was nor the nationalities of the crew.
Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon Rainforest Among Outstanding Natural Sites Under Threat from French Multinationals
▻http://multinationales.org/Great-Barrier-Reef-and-the-Amazon-Rainforest-Among-Outstanding-Natu
Half of World Heritage sites are currently threatened by industrial development, and the oil and mining sectors pose a particular threat. So many invaluable sites and #biodiversity sanctuaries face being wiped off the map just because we are unable to do anything about our voracious model of development. Several French transnational corporations are among those involved in projects that could herald the end of these exceptional sites. Some of the sites facing destruction include national (...)
/ A la une, #Extractive_Industries, #Australia, #Brazil, #Canada, #Guatemala, #Guinea, #Indonesia, #Malaysia, #Netherlands, #Peru, #DR_Congo, São Tomé, #ArcelorMittal, #Areva, Bolloré, #EDF, Engie (ex GDF Suez), #Eramet, #Lafarge, #Maurel_et_Prom, #Perenco, #Total, #Socfin, (...)
#São_Tomé #Bolloré #Engie_ex_GDF_Suez_ #Energy #Extractive_Industries #environmental_impact #resource_overexploitation #extractive_industries
“►https://www.bastamag.net/De-la-Grande-barriere-de-corail-a-l-Amazonie-ces-sites-naturels-d-exceptio”
“►http://www.wwf.fr/vous_informer/actualites/?7841/La-moitie-des-sites-du-Patrimoine-mondial-sont-menaces-par-des-activites-industr”
“►http://whc.unesco.org/fr/peril”
“►http://www.socfin.com/Files/media/News/2016-03-04---Menaces-sur-forets-africaines.pdf”
“►http://www.perenco.com”
“►http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_nations_are_chipping_away_their_protected_lands/2989”
“►http://www.padddtracker.org”
“►http://marketforces.org.au/banks/map”
“►http://www.societegenerale.com/sites/default/files/documents/Document%20RSE/Finance%20responsable/Principes%20Generaux%20Environnementaux%20et%20Sociaux%20de%20nos%2”
“►https://www.societegenerale.com/sites/default/files/documents/Document%20RSE/Finance%20responsable/Politique%20Transversale%20Biodiversit%C3%A9.pdf”
“►http://blog.greenpeace.fr/bollore-zero-deforestation”
“►http://forets.greenpeace.fr/la-socfin-menace-toujours-les-forets-africaines”
Migration Maps
In 2013, Group 484 invited several artists to work with asylum seekers in an asylum centre near the village of
#Bogovadja, near Valjevo. At that time, the number of migrants in Serbia was not nearly as large as it is today.
The issue of migration, except in the narrow circles of activists and individual organisations, was neither
visible nor topical. In Bogovadja we met people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Guinea, Senegal,
Syria while they were spending days in the centre, reporting to the police station upon entering Serbia
illegally and expressing their intention to seek asylum.
We did not want to frame people as victims, avoiding the prism of humanitarian paternalism which is often the
basis of art projects, but as courageous people who, by the very fact that they had decided to set out on such
a journey, made a radical change in their life – fleeing war, conflicts and poverty. We were interested when,
how and where they had been travelling before we met them. We asked why they had embarked on such a
journey, what troubles they had survived, how they had crossed borders, what their experiences were
with police and people in the countries they had passed through.
Together we sketched maps, piecing together their routes, which in some cases had taken up to 7 years.
Sometimes the maps lack detail or are unclear, and sometimes they would skip parts of the journey.
We wanted to show their routes factually, and thus draw attention to Europe’s inhumane
asylum policy
http://theoccupiedtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Map1_780.jpg 
http://theoccupiedtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Map3_780.jpg 
http://theoccupiedtimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Map4_780.jpg #cartographie #visualisation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #dessins #esquisses #parcours_migratoires #itinéraires_migratoires
cc @reka
Silencing West Papuan independence supporters overseas
Occupied by Indonesia since 1963, the Western half of the island of #New_Guinea – known to advocates of independence as West Papua – has been the subject of extensive military and intelligence operations for decades.
Abandoned Tanker Mysteriously Washes Ashore in Liberia - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/abandoned-tanker-mysteriously-washes-ashore-in-liberia
An abandoned oil tanker has mysteriously washed ashore in Liberia leaving officials scratching their heads as to how it got there and what exactly happened to its crew.
According to local reports the vessel emblazoned with the name Tamaya 1 was discovered washed up on a beach in Robertsport, Liberia on Wednesday with no sign of any crew.
AIS data from MarineTraffic.com shows the Tamaya 1 is a 63-meter oil products tanker flagged in Panama. It’s last known position was recorded back on April 22 as the ship was steaming southward at just .7 knots after leaving the port of Dakar in Senegal.
Speculation over the ship has ranged from abandonment to piracy, although the vessel’s last known position was well north of active Gulf of Guinea pirate groups who typically stick to the waters off Nigeria.
Adding to the confusion, the Liberian government is being slammed in the media for being unaware of the ship until two days after it washed ashore, sparking criticism over safety and security in Liberian waters. Other reports have said that a fire was discovered in captain’s quarters.
On a retrouvé le propriétaire du Tamaya 1
Owner of Mystery Oil Tanker Comes Forward, Sheds Some Light on Abandoned Ship - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/owner-of-mystery-oil-tanker-comes-forward-shedding-light-on-abandoned-ship
The alleged owner, identified as Robert M. Saigba, was met by officials when he landed at Liberia’s Roberts International Airport on May 13, where he claimed ownership of the Panamanian-flagged Tamaya 1, the 63-meter oil tanker that was found abandoned along a beach in Robertsport, Liberia on May 4. Adding to the mystery, one of the ship’s two lifeboats was missing from the vessel, and a fire had ravaged most of the interior of the ship.
Traveling with Saigba were two of ship’s alleged crew members. The three men were not arrested, and have been working with security officials to unravel the mystery behind the ship, according to Liberia’s official news agency LINA.
petite visite vidéo
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MRisXtCWZo
Violent Pirate Attacks Increase in Gulf of Guinea Despite Global Downturn, IMB Says - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/violent-pirate-attacks-increase-in-gulf-of-guinea-despite-global-downturn-
While piracy on the high seas continues to fall across most of the globe, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center is highlight growing threat of violent attacks in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa, where 44 seafarers have been captured so far this year.
Worldwide, just 37 piracy and armed robbery incidents were recorder in the three months of 2016, down from 54 in the same period last year, the IMB said in it’s first quarter report. Three vessels were hijacked and 29 boarded, with 26 crew kidnapped for ransom and a further 28 held hostage.
The Gulf of Guinea dominates world piracy in terms of numbers and severity, with the waters off Nigeria and Ivory Coast accounting for two of the three hijackings recorded globally, and all 28 hostages. From January to March, the region saw 16 crew kidnapped from chemical and product tankers in four separate incidents. While ten attacks were reported off Nigeria alone, all involving guns.
“Reports in the last quarter indicate unacceptable violence against ships and crews in the Gulf of Guinea, particularly around Nigeria. The current increase in kidnappings is a cause for great concern,” said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, who has monitored world piracy since 1991.
United Nations News Centre - Security Council urges stronger regional approach on eradicating piracy in Gulf of Guinea
▻http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53779
United Nations officials today reiterated a call for a comprehensive regional framework to eradicate piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea, with the Security Council stressing the importance of addressing underlying causes and strengthening justice systems and judicial cooperation in the region.
“The Security Council remains deeply concerned about the threat that piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea pose to international navigation, the security and economic development of States in the region, to the safety and welfare of seafarers and other persons, as well as the safety of commercial maritime routes,” the 15-member body said in a presidential statement adopted today.
Le presidential statement
▻http://www.franceonu.org/Presidential-Statement-Piracy-and-armed-robbery-at-sea
tiens, à propos du Golfe de Guinée,…
Pirates Free Turkish Crew Kidnapped Off Nigeria - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/pirates-free-turkish-crew-off-nigeria
Six Turkish members of a cargo ship’s crew who were kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria two weeks ago have been released and are safely back in Istanbul, a lawyer for the shipping company said on Tuesday.
“The six of them have been released and are back in Istanbul. All are in good health,” said Fehmi Ulgener, a lawyer for the shipping firm Kaptanoglu Denizcilik. He declined to say whether or not a ransom had been paid.
The Turks, who included the M/T Puli’s captain, chief officer and chief engineer, were abducted some 90 miles off Nigeria on April 11. Other members of the crew were left onboard, unharmed.
Mundemba declaration and statement of solidarity: women, communities say NO to oil palm expansion
▻https://www.grain.org/article/entries/5426-mundemba-declaration-and-statement-of-solidarity-women-communities-say-n
We share the concerns of local communities regarding the growing interest in community land for corporate oil palm plantations. The experiences shared during the workshop by the different participants—who came from several countries affected by oil palm plantations and from the home countries of companies involved in this expansion—attest to the dangers communities are facing. In Indonesia, communities have had millions of hectares of land fraudulently taken and destroyed by oil palm companies, and many of these companies are now grabbing lands for plantations in Africa. In many African countries, we see companies systematically failing to keep promises they have made to communities whose lands they have taken through corruption, bribery, lies, intimidation and other devious tactics.
From our field visits to Ndian Town, Fabe, Meangwe II and Ikondo-Kondo resettlement, we witnessed and heard about the tactics and strategies used by oil palm companies. The devastating impacts that plantations have had in other countries are more or less reflected in this part of Cameroon. We witnessed how companies in the area have failed to respect court rulings in favour of the communities or to abide by laws pertaining to the protection of the environment and the acquisition of lands. We are deeply troubled by the intimidation and criminalisation of community leaders and organisers opposed to projects, including the local organiser of this workshop, the Mundemba-based organisation SEFE. We have seen how companies are not providing the basic services and support they promised to communities, such as scholarships, employment, community farms, bridges and roads, royalties, housing, health care, water or utilities. And we have also seen how companies have used divide and conquer tactics to try to break the unity of communities. The companies are not bringing development, but are merely generating poverty, food insecurity, social conflict and environmental destruction.
#industrie_palmiste #insécurité_alimentaire #colonialisme #terres contre #paysannerie #souveraineté_alimentaire
The Mundemba workshop brought together 40 participants from Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Nigeria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and Switzerland. It was co-organised by the Cameroon organisations SEFE, CED and RADD and the international organisations World Rainforest Movement and GRAIN.
▻https://www.grain.org/article/entries/5429-international-workshop-on-strategies-and-tactics-used-by-oil-palm-compan
Piracy in Gulf of Guinea Surges in First Three Months of 2016, Dryad Says - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/piracy-in-gulf-of-guinea-surges-in-first-three-months-of-2016-dryad-says
Despite a global reduction of piracy across international waters during the first three months of 2016, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, including kidnappings for ransom and sabotage, has surged, according to Dryad Maritime’s Q1 2016 analysis of reported incidents of piracy and crime against mariners.
In South East Asia there has been a 50% drop in reported maritime crime compared to the same period in 2015; the lowest figures recorded by Dryad in 10 years. Similarly, the end of Q1 2016 represents the longest period without attacks on MVs underway or at anchor within the Singapore Strait since Q1 2013. Somali piracy continues to be broadly contained with no confirmed attacks on large merchant vessels since January 2014, despite some views that the pirates continue to ‘probe.’
Presidency Of The Republic Of Turkey : “I Neither Obey Nor Respect Constitutional Court’s Ruling”
▻http://www.tccb.gov.tr/en/news/542/39958/anayasa-mahkemesinin-kararina-uymuyorum-saygi-da-duymuyorum.html
Holding a news conference at Atatürk Airport ahead of a travel to West Africa covering Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, President Recep Tayyip #Erdoğan said regarding the release of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül pursuant to the ruling of Constitutional Court that: “I just keep silent in the face of Constitutional Court’s ruling; however, I am not in a position to approve the ruling. I neither obey nor respect the ruling because we have an obvious truth. This is not a ruling for acquittal, but a ruling for release.”
BOURBON’s Two Crew Members Kidnapped off Nigeria | World Maritime News
▻https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/183926/bourbons-two-crew-members-kidnapped-off-nigeria
“BOURBON confirms that one of its vessels, the Bourbon Liberty 251, was the object of an attack. Two crew members of Nigerian and Russian nationalities are considered as abducted,” the company said in a statement.
The ten other crew members are back on board the vessel in Onne port, safe and sound, the statement reads.
The French offshore vessel supplier said that an emergency cell has immediately been set up. There was no further information disclosed on the attack or potential request for ransom.
The attack comes in less then a year when three BOURBON’s crew members of Nigerian nationality were kidnapped when the company’s crew boat, the Surfer 1440, was boarded off the Nigerian coast in April 2015. The crew was released on May 8th, however BOURBON did not reveal the terms of their release.
The recent period has seen a considerable rise in attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, with Nigerian pirates resorting to kidnappings more frequently as they abandon oil cargo theft as less lucrative trade.
Mapped: The sensitivity of the world’s ecosystems to climate - Carbon Brief
▻http://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-the-sensitivity-of-the-worlds-ecosystems-to-climate
Research out today, published in Nature, maps how sensitive these different types of vegetation are to the ups and downs of the climate from one year to the next.
The map below illustrates the study’s new “vegetation sensitivity index”, which indicates to what extent plant growth is affected by fluctuations in the climate. Ecosystems that are most sensitive to climate variability are shaded red, while those with low sensitivity are shaded green.
You can see there are highly sensitive regions around the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, along the mid-to-high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, in the tropical forests of South America, and along the eastern side of Australia.
▻http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature16986.html
#climat #écosystèmes #végétation #cartographie
The Truth About Child Trafficking in Senegal
In July 2009, I was in Guinea-Bissau covering the presidential elections after the murder of president Nino Vieira when I first heard stories about Guinean children who were taken to Senegal to work and beg for Koranic teachers. Many of them disappeared while playing in remote areas; others were given by their parents after false promises made by the local marabouts—religious teachers or guardians.
#photographie #trafic_d'enfants #trafic_d'êtres_humains #Sénégal #traite
cc @albertocampiphoto
Daily chart: Ebola in Africa: the end of a tragedy | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/01/daily-chart-12?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Fbl%2Fed%2Febolainafricatheendofatrage
AS OF January 14th 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the west African country of Liberia free of Ebola. Along with it, Africa as a whole is now clear of the killer virus. The outbreak that ravaged the region over the course of the last two years was the worst the world has ever seen. The first reported case dates back to December 2013, in Guéckédou, a forested area of Guinea near the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone. Travellers took it across the borders: by late March 2014, Liberia had reported eight suspected cases and Sierra Leone six. By the end of June that same year 759 people had been infected and 467 people had died from the disease. To date, 28,637 cases and 11,315 deaths have been reported worldwide, the vast majority of them in these same three countries.
Après avoir été élue pour présider le Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations Unies, l’Arabie saoudite est en train de monter une coalition ("islamique") contre le terrorisme.
Voila, voila...
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-security-idUKKBN0TX2LN20151215
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, according to a joint statement published on state news agency SPA.
“The countries here mentioned have decided on the formation of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint operations centre based in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations,” the statement said.
A long list of Arab countries such as Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, together with Islamic countries Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Gulf Arab and African states were mentioned.
The announcement cited “a duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organizations whatever their sect and name which wreak death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorise the innocent.”
Shi’ite Muslim Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia’s arch rival for influence in the Arab world, was absent from the states named as participants, as proxy conflicts between the two regional powers rage from Syria to Yemen.
[...]
Asked if the new alliance would focus just on Islamic State, bin Salman said it would confront not only that group but “any terrorist organisation that appears in front of us.”
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab neighbours have been locked in nine months of warfare with Iran-allied rebels in neighbouring Yemen, launching hundreds of air strikes there.
Monsieur de defensa vient de traiter le sujet, voir ici :
On fait coalition dimanche, vous venez ?
►http://www.dedefensa.org/article/on-fait-coalition-dimanche-a-la-maison-vous-venez
La liste des 34 pays de cette nouvelle « coalition islamique contre le terrorisme » :
▻http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/14/middleeast/islamic-coalition-isis-saudi-arabia
In addition to Saudi Arabia, the coalition will include Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, the Palestinians, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.
Sauf qu’au Liban ils ne savent même pas qu’ils participent à cette coalition d’aprèas un communiqué des affaires étrangères :
الخارجية : ما يجري خارج الأصول الدستورية : : لبنان | جريدة السفير
▻http://assafir.com/Article/1/462035
من جهتها، أعلنت وزارة الخارجية والمغتربين في بيان اليوم، أنها “لم تكن على علم، لا من قريب ولا من بعيد بموضوع إنشاء تحالف إسلامي لمحاربة الإرهاب”
Ethiopia: The Biggest African Refugee Camp No One Talks About
On a sunny November day in Addis Ababa the courtyard of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) centre is packed with people—some attend a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reception clinic, others get essential supplies, while students attend classes, and many simply play volleyball, table football or dominoes to pass the time.
Benyamin told IPS he came to Ethiopia from Yemen because practising his religion freely just wasn’t an option. After converting from Islam to the Jewish faith, he was put in a psychiatric hospital. “If I’d been sent to court I could have been put to death,” Benyamin adds phlegmatically.
Guilain, 35, from Guinea in West Africa, has lived in Ethiopia for 11 years, while two years ago his wife and daughter managed to enter the United States, where he hopes to join them—eventually.
“I miss them but I must keep my heart intact, so I can’t think about it too much,” Guilain told IPS. While he remains in Ethiopia, Guilain has formed a seven-member band of fellow Guineans who practise in the JRS’s small music room. “The music gives me hope. I am happy when I come here; you see people enjoying themselves—it helps you to forget.”
Now in its 20th year, the JRS compound resembles a microcosm of Africa’s—and even the Middle East’s—troubles, hosting refugees from South Sudan, Congo, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen, Burundi and more. It aims to assist 1,700 people in 2015, Hanna Petros, the centre’s director, told IPS.
While many European countries bemoan the arrival of refugees, developing countries host 86 per cent of the world’s refugees, according to a 2013 UNHCR Global Trends report. Ethiopia hosts about 680,000 refugees, the largest number of any African country.
▻http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/11/ethiopia-the-biggest-african-refugee-camp-no-one-talks-about
#Ethiopie #réfugiés #camp_de_réfugiés #asile #migrations
Evidence for sexual transmission of the #Ebola Virus.
In December 2013 cases of Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever with an extremely high mortality rate, began to emerge in Guinea, West Africa, marking the beginning of the most severe outbreak of the disease ever recorded. The epidemic rapidly spread to several neighbouring countries, including Sierra Leone and Liberia where if became established and killed large numbers of people before being eradicated. Liberia was officially declared free of Ebola on 3 September 2015, though cases were still being reported in Guinea and Sierra Leone, albeit at a much lower rate than during the peak of the epidemic.
▻http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.it/2015/11/evidence-for-sexual-transmission-of.html
"People need to recognise #Ebola and isolate it" – Interview with Danish Refugee Council expert
Liberia is Ebola-free, and the number of new cases in Sierra Leone and Guinea has considerably decreased since the outbreak was declared in March 2014. The end of the outbreak seems a little closer. But Ebola can and may return. The European Commission’s humanitarian partners are on the ground to help people get back on their feet and prepare for any possible new outbreak. Our colleague Isabel Coello talked to Audrey Crawford, Head of Programmes at Danish Refugee Council in Liberia.
▻http://ec.europa.eu/echo/blog/people-need-recognise-ebola-and-isolate-it-interview-danish-refugee-counci
14 African Countries Forced by France to Pay Colonial Tax For the Benefits of Slavery and Colonization -
►http://www.siliconafrica.com/france-colonial-tax
Did you know many African countries continue to pay colonial tax to France since their independence till today!
When Sékou Touré of Guinea decided in 1958 to get out of french colonial empire, and opted for the country independence, the french colonial elite in Paris got so furious, and in a historic act of fury the french administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from french colonization.
Three thousand French left the country, taking all their property and destroying anything that which could not be moved: schools, nurseries, public administration buildings were crumbled; cars, books, medicine, research institute instruments, tractors were crushed and sabotaged; horses, cows in the farms were killed, and food in warehouses were burned or poisoned.
The purpose of this outrageous act was to send a clear message to all other colonies that the consequences for rejecting France would be very high.
Murder at Sea: Captured on Video, but Killers Go Free - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/world/middleeast/murder-at-sea-captured-on-video-but-killers-go-free.html
The oceans, plied by more ships than ever before, are also more armed and dangerous than any time since World War II, naval historians say. Thousands of seamen every year are victims of violence, with hundreds killed, according to maritime security officials, insurers and naval researchers. Last year in three regions alone — the western Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa — more than 5,200 seafarers were attacked by pirates and robbers and more than 500 were taken hostage, a database built by The New York Times shows.
Many merchant vessels hired private security starting in 2008 as pirates began operating across larger expanses of the ocean, outstripping governments’ policing capacities. Guns and guards at sea are now so ubiquitous that a niche industry of floating armories has emerged. The vessels — part storage depot, part bunkhouse — are positioned in high-risk areas of international waters and house hundreds of assault rifles, small arms and ammunition. Guards on board wait, sometimes for months in decrepit conditions, for their next deployment.
(...)
Radar advancements and the increased use of so-called fish-aggregating devices — floating objects that attract schools of fish — have heightened tensions as fishermen are more prone to crowd the same spots. “Catches shrink, tempers fray, fighting starts,” Mr. Southwick said. “Murder on these boats is relatively common.”
#mer #piraterie #pêche #meurtres
et des photos des #armureries_flottantes (#arsenaux_flottants en bon français)
http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/07/08/world/OCEANS-VIOLENCE-02/OCEANS-VIOLENCE-02-master1050.jpg Discerning threats is difficult. Semiautomatic weapons, formerly a pirates’ telltale sign, are now found on virtually all boats traversing dangerous waters, they said. Smugglers, with no intention of attacking, routinely nestle close to larger merchant ships to hide in their radar shadow and avoid being detected by coastal authorities. Fishing boats also sometimes tuck behind larger ships because they churn up sea-bottom sediment that attracts fish.
Hooked
▻http://www.bbc.co.uk/taster/projects/hooked
Guinea-Bissau is used by South American drug cartels as a route to smuggle cocaine to Europe. Hooked is a five-part report of the human impact of that trade in the style of a graphic novel. The story deals with the strong adult theme of drug taking.
#Ebola cases not slowing in Guinea, Sierra Leone
▻http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6458a054d1d342d38954b6f08e63e9d0/ebola-cases-not-slowing-guinea-sierra-leone
CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Despite hopes that the deadly Ebola outbreak could soon be contained in West Africa, it shows no signs of abating in Guinea and may be flaring up once more in Sierra Leone as people are flouting rules limiting travel meant to stop it.
The election in Guinea in October adds a new layer of worry for Guineans and health workers, with some residents saying that campaign events, in which people crowd together, shouldn’t be held yet.
The deadly virus, which has killed over 11,100 people mostly in West Africa in its worst outbreak ever, has been stamped out in neighboring Liberia, but is hanging on stubbornly in Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak was first reported in March 2014. Impending presidential elections could make it even worse.
“Ebola is on the rise again because of population movements. People move from one place to another,” said Dr. Amadou Talibe, an Ebola response team worker in Dubreka, 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of capital, Conakry. “People who have come into contact with Ebola but have not been identified, they go to another village and only then develop the symptoms of Ebola and then contaminate others.”
Ebola : le virus réapparaît en Sierra Leone | Le Devoir
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