#nigéria

Plusieurs Camerounais arrêtés au Nigéria
▻https://actucameroun.com/2020/04/03/plusieurs-camerounais-arretes-au-nigeria
#Covid-19#Migration#Migrant#Cameroun#Nigeria#Immigrationclandestine

Chassés par Boko Haram, menacés par le coronavirus
▻https://www.voaafrique.com/a/nigeria-chass%C3%A9s-par-boko-haram-menac%C3%A9s-par-le-coronavirus/5358576.html

https://gdb.voanews.com/f28b5ea2-eadb-4dd2-a79f-486f93194095_cx0_cy10_cw0_w1200_r1.jpg

Covid-19 : 12 nouveaux cas enregistrés au Nigéria ont transité par le Bénin
▻https://beninwebtv.com/2020/04/covid-19-les-12-nouveaux-cas-enregistres-au-nigeria-provenaient-du-benin

https://beninwebtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-au-Bénin.jpg

COVID-19 VOA Afrique
▻https://www.voaafrique.com/covid19
#Covid-19#Migration#Migrant#Nigeria#Frontière#Ville

Refugees from Nigeria living in Niger are making beautiful soap, doing their part to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
►https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2020/4/5e79e2410/live-blog-refugees-covid-19-crisis.html
Refugees in Niger 🇳🇪 as actors of prevention, solidarity and health response!
Through the production of soap many marginalized and displaced Nigerians 🇳🇬 will receive free soap 🧼and information on hand washing practices! #LeaveNoOneBehind
#Covid-19#Migration#Migrant#Niger#Nigeria#Réfugiés

Borno screens passengers to contain COVID-19Nigeria — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News
▻https://guardian.ng/news/borno-screens-passengers-to-contain-covid-19

https://guardian.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/000_1Q941D.jpg

Nigeria : face au Covid-19, les villes de Lagos et Abuja en confinement
▻https://www.france24.com/fr/20200329-nigeria-face-au-covid-19-les-villes-de-lagos-et-abuja-en-confinem

https://s.france24.com/media/display/44386c0e-71f1-11ea-a6c6-005056bff430/w:1240/p:16x9/000_1Q84WM.jpg

“Why social distancing won’t work for us” - The Correspondent
▻https://thecorrespondent.com/378/why-social-distancing-wont-work-for-us/50043118356-4fbed697?pk_campaign=weekly
Perspectives sur le #coronavirus à Lagos
#épidémie #pandémie #Nigéria #Afrique

19-nigeria-le-nombre-de-cas-confirmes-passe-a-81%2F&logo=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.yeclo.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F03%2FCoronavirus-au-Congo.jpg&extrait=
#Covid-19#Migration#Migrant#Nigeria

#Métaliste on #return_migration
#North_Africa/#Europe —> #Sub-Saharan_Africa

#migration #expulsion #deportation #south-south_deportation #IOM #explusions_sud-sud

Info collection on return policy by @cdb_77 ▻https://seenthis.net/messages/889199

MOHAMED’S STORY. Escaping the #climate_conflict_trap

MOHAMED’S STORY is based on more than 200 targeted interviews with a variety of religious, occupational and ethno-linguistic groups living around Lake Chad as well as satellite data-based long-term observation studies of the hydrology and climate variability of the lake. The research took place in Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria from November 2017 to June 2019.

https://shoring-up-stability.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/adelphi_lake-chad-climate-conflict_panel-1.jpg

Pour lire la BD complète et la télécharger :
▻https://shoring-up-stability.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/adelphi_lake-chad-climate-conflict.pdf

ping @karine4 @reka

La guerra del Biafra - Wikiradio del 12/01/2017 - Rai Radio 3 - RaiPlay Radio

Il 12 gennaio 1970 la Repubblica del Biafra si arrende alla Federazione nigeriana con Marcella Emiliani

▻https://www.raiplayradio.it/audio/2017/01/La-guerra-del-Biafra---Wikiradio-del-12012017-173ddaf5-faac-4dd5-acaa-d

https://www.rai.it/cropgd/640x320/dl/img/2017/01/1483553023545bimbo_BBCok.jpg

#podcast #wikiradio #RaiRadio3 #biafra #guerre

Fermeture des frontières du #Nigeria : un émissaire de la Cédéao au Bénin

Depuis le 20 août 2019, le Nigeria a décidé de fermer toutes ses frontières. Une situation qui pèse sur les commerçants béninois. Le président de la Task Force de la Cédéao pour la #libre_circulation, le général Salou Djibo, s’est rendu à la frontière entre les deux pays.

Depuis le 20 août, le Nigeria, pays membre de la Cédéao qui promeut la libre circulation des personnes et des biens, a décidé de fermer toutes ses frontières, officiellement pour lutter contre l’entrée sur son territoire des produits interdits comme le riz, l’essence de la #contrebande, les voitures d’occasion. Une mesure qui devrait être prolongée jusqu’au 31 janvier 2020 sur décision du chef de l’État nigérian.

La Cédéao est venue s’informer des conséquences de cette fermeture. Salou Djibo a réuni dans la salle de conférence du poste-frontalier Sèmè-Kraké toute l’administration qui gère le flux des passagers des véhicules : douane, police et les représentants des camionneurs bloqués ici depuis deux mois et demi.

Salou Djibo et ses accompagnateurs ont posé des questions précises au receveur de la douane et au commissaire de Kraké. Des questions qui avaient l’air d’une petite enquête pour confirmer ou infirmer tout ce que le Nigeria reproche au Bénin.

Plus qu’un avocat, le receveur de la douane a laissé entendre que le Bénin était irréprochable en matière de respect des réglementations. Salou Djibo a écouté, pris des notes. Puis, il a confié à RFI qu’il allait maintenant faire un rapport et rendre compte à qui de droit.

Plus de 1 000 camions bloqués

L’impact sur les recettes de cette fermeture n’a pas encore été officiellement chiffré. Le Bénin n’a publié aucun chiffre. Mais le volume des échanges avec le Nigeria est si important que chacun devine le manque à gagner. La douane à #Kraké, par exemple, n’a prélevé aucune recette depuis deux mois et demi, alors que les recettes mensuelles avoisinent les 300 millions de francs CFA d’habitude.

Quant aux produits qui viennent du Nigeria et qui sont mis en consommation sur le marché béninois, ces produits augmentent. Pusieurs camionneurs ont d’ailleurs déclaré au président Salou Djibo que la situation n’était plus tenable. Ils n’ont plus de réserves pour se nourrir et se soigner. Certains de leurs apprentis sont en prison pour avoir commis de petits vols pour survivre. « Ça ne va pas, sauvez-nous ! », ont-ils demandé aux émissaires. Salou Djibo leur a répondu de faire preuve d’un peu de patience. Actuellement, plus d’un milliern de camions sont bloqués et immobilisés sur les parcs à la frontière Sèmè-Kraké.

Comme si son pays subissait une injustice, le ministre béninois des affaires étrangères, Aurélien Agbenonci espère aussi un dénouement rapide. « Notre pays n’a pas changé de posture. Nous n’avons pris aucune mesure qui puisse constituer une entrave à la circulation des personnes, des biens. La main des Béninois reste tendue pour explorer les voies et moyens pour surmonter rapidement cette crise. »

Les conséquences au Nigeria

En fermant ses frontières, le Nigeria voulait notamment stimuler la production locale de #riz et réduire ses importations. Mais deux mois plus tard, ces objectifs n’ont pas réellement été atteints. Il faut beaucoup plus qu’une fermeture de frontière pour dynamiser un secteur qui n’est pas très compétitif, estime le professeur de géopolitique et consultant en développement Emmanuel Igah, qui explique que pour le moment, la mesure n’a pas encore produit les effets escomptés.

Résultat de cette mesure, le prix du riz a augmenté de près de 10% entre début aout et fin septembre. Ainsi que le prix de nombreux autres produits alimentaires, qui ne peuvent plus être importés, explique l’économiste Leopold Ghins.

« Le #Ghana exporte beaucoup au Nigeria, de l’huile de palme, du café, du cacao, de la bière, du beurre. Au niveau du Bénin, il y a aussi d’autres céréales exportées au Nigeria, le manioc par exemple. Et au niveau du Niger, ça va plutôt être du bétail, les vaches, les produits laitiers, etc. Tous ces produits vont devenir plus chers sur le marché nigérian. »

Selon ces chercheurs, le marché nigérian n’était pas préparé à cette fermeture soudaine de la frontière et n’était pas suffisamment approvisionné ce qui a provoqué une forte inflation. Le problème, ajoutent-ils, c’est qu’il faudra beaucoup plus que trois mois supplémentaires pour développer une production locale.

▻http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20191104-fermeture-frontieres-nigeria-emissaire-cedeao-benin-seme-krake
#frontières #fermeture_des_frontières #Benin

Le #développement en #Afrique à l’aune des #bassins_de_migrations

Sur le continent africain, les migrations sont organisées autour de #pôles_d’attraction_régionale qui constituent des bassins de migrations. Une réalité qu’il convient de prendre davantage en compte dans les politiques de développement.

Quelques chiffres pour commencer. La planète compte 272 millions de migrants internationaux en 2019, soit 3,5 % de la population mondiale. En 2017, 36,3 millions d’Africains vivaient hors de leur pays de résidence habituelle, représentant environ 15 % des migrants internationaux. Alors que les migrations africaines vers l’Europe captent régulièrement l’attention médiatique, il faut rappeler que les mouvements de populations ont majoritairement lieu à l’intérieur même du continent africain (►https://unctad.org/fr/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=2118). Ainsi, 7 migrants subsahariens sur 10 demeurent en Afrique. Seules les migrations nord-africaines sont majoritairement extracontinentales : 9 migrants nord-africains sur 10 résident en effet hors du continent. Des mobilités avant tout sur le continent Pour l’essentiel intracontinentales, les migrations subsahariennes sont organisées autour de pôles d’attraction régionale. Les principaux pays d’immigration en Afrique sont l’Afrique du Sud (4 millions d’immigrants sur une population de 56,7 millions), la Côte d’Ivoire (2,3 sur 24,3 millions), l’Ouganda (1,7 sur 42,9 millions), le Nigeria (1,5 sur 191 millions), le Kenya (1,3 sur 49,7 millions) et l’Éthiopie (1,2 sur 105 millions). Ces États voient converger en leur sein des migrants issus de pays limitrophes, pour des durées plus ou moins longues.

https://ideas4development.org/uploads/2019/12/Afrique-migration-corridors-FR.png

Le Kenya, par exemple, héberge une majorité de migrants ougandais et somaliens. L’Éthiopie accueille essentiellement des ressortissants érythréens, somaliens et sud-soudanais. En Afrique du Sud, les migrants sont principalement issus du Mozambique, du Zimbabwe, du Lesotho et de Namibie, etc. Ces sous-ensembles migratoires régionaux, regroupant à chaque fois plusieurs pays d’émission autour d’un même pôle d’attraction, constituent ce que l’on appelle des « bassins de migrations ». Les migrations s’effectuent généralement à l’intérieur d’une même région car migrer loin implique de posséder un capital économique, social et culturel. Dans certaines régions, la porosité des frontières, l’existence de dynamiques migratoires traditionnelles et la mise en place progressive d’espaces de libre circulation des personnes tendent à renforcer ce phénomène. À rebours des discours alarmistes qui prédisent une « ruée » de la jeune Afrique vers le Vieux Continent, le caractère intrarégional des migrations subsahariennes est un état de fait, un schéma dominant et structurel des mobilités humaines en Afrique. Les déterminants des mobilités intrarégionales : des bassins de migrations diversifiés Le phénomène des bassins de migrations est récurrent, mais les motivations des personnes qui se déplacent et les contextes migratoires sont divers. Bien que la décision de migrer soit toujours multifactorielle et inscrite dans un contexte spécifique, la recherche de sécurité et la quête d’emploi sont les deux déterminants principaux des migrations vers ces pôles d’attraction régionale. Ainsi, l’Ouganda, troisième pays d’accueil des réfugiés après la Turquie et le Pakistan, héberge 1,2 million de réfugiés sur une population immigrée de 1,7 million : il s’agit principalement de personnes ayant fui les conflits voisins au Soudan du Sud et en République démocratique du Congo. Ces migrants ont cherché refuge en Ouganda et se sont établis, généralement pour de longues durées, dans les camps du nord et de l’ouest du pays. Les migrations intrarégionales vers la Côte d’Ivoire sont, quant à elles, fortement déterminées par la demande en main-d’œuvre peu qualifiée dans plusieurs secteurs tels que l’agriculture, la construction et les industries extractives. Le dynamisme économique relatif du pays et ses salaires plus avantageux expliquent que de nombreux Burkinabès, Maliens, Guinéens, Libériens et Nigériens s’y rendent pour travailler, à plus de 90 % dans le secteur informel (soit 10 % de plus que les nationaux). Sur ces territoires, différentes temporalités migratoires peuvent se côtoyer : ainsi, certains Burkinabès cultivent le cacao dans les forêts ivoiriennes depuis plusieurs décennies, d’autres s’y rendent de manière saisonnière en fonction du calendrier agricole. Les migrants, potentiels facteurs de développement économique Jeunes (31 ans en moyenne), les migrants africains, dont 47 % sont des femmes, sont autant de potentiels contributeurs au développement des pays de départ et d’installation. Dans ces bassins de migrations, les mobilités humaines contribuent au tissage de réseaux et à l’établissement de relations entre les territoires.

En Côte d’Ivoire, par exemple, l’activité économique de la population immigrée contribue à 19 % du PIB. Les migrants représentent donc un facteur de développement économique pour le pays d’installation. En outre, ils soutiennent le développement de leur pays d’origine, notamment via leurs transferts de fonds, qui peuvent être des sources d’épargne, d’investissement productif ou de complément de revenus pour les ménages restés sur place. En 2017, la Côte d’Ivoire a ainsi reçu 307 millions de dollars de la part de sa diaspora, tandis que les immigrés sur son sol ont envoyé 845 millions de dollars vers leurs pays d’origine. Intégrer davantage les migrations intrarégionales dans les politiques de développement Facteur de développement, les migrations sont un enjeu à part entière pour les pays africains, autant que le changement climatique, le développement socio-économique et territorial, la gouvernance, l’urbanisation, l’accès aux services de santé et d’éducation, etc. L’approche par les bassins de migrations implique une analyse intersectorielle et multipays, et une prise en compte des mobilités intrarégionales. Au niveau opérationnel, il s’agit d’adopter une démarche décloisonnée et d’intégrer davantage les migrations dans les projets sectoriels. Des exemples d’une telle démarche existent déjà. En matière de santé, citons le projet Réseau de surveillance et d’investigation épidémiologique (RSIE), initié par la Commission de l’océan Indien. Ce réseau regroupe les Comores, Madagascar, Maurice, la France au titre de la Réunion (y associant Mayotte) et les Seychelles. Financé par l’AFD, il permet une veille régionale et un système d’alerte aux épidémies dans les îles de l’ouest de l’océan Indien (Réseau Sega One Health), espace caractérisé par des migrations intrarégionales fortes. Basé sur le paradigme One Health qui associe la santé à un bien-être global partagé par les humains, les animaux et les écosystèmes, le projet RSIE illustre bien cet intérêt d’intégrer les mobilités humaines et animales intrarégionales à un projet sectoriel. C’est une logique qu’il s’agit désormais d’élargir à d’autres régions et domaines d’action. La migration est inhérente à la dynamique des sociétés et les populations continueront de migrer, comme elles l’ont toujours fait. La question, finalement, est de savoir dans quelles conditions.

▻https://ideas4development.org/developpement-africain-bassins-de-migrations

#migrations #asile #réfugiés #migrations_intra-africaines #visualisation #cartographie #chiffres #statistiques #migrations_subsahariennes #Afrique_du_Sud #Ouganda #Nigeria #Kenya #Ethiopie #capital_économique #capital_social #capital_culturel #préjugés #invasion #afflux #développement_économique #ressources_pédagogiques #remittances #diaspora

signalé par @fil

Strength from Abroad. The Economic Power of Nigeria’s Diaspora

https://i.imgur.com/f5Y3E6l.png

Europe spends billions stopping migration. Good luck figuring out where the money actually goes

How much money exactly does Europe spend trying to curb migration from Nigeria? And what’s it used for? We tried to find out, but Europe certainly doesn’t make it easy. These flashy graphics show you just how complicated the funding is.
In a shiny new factory in the Benin forest, a woman named Blessing slices pineapples into rings. Hundreds of miles away, at a remote border post in the Sahara, Abubakar scans travellers’ fingerprints. And in village squares across Nigeria, Usman performs his theatre show about the dangers of travelling to Europe.

What do all these people have in common?

All their lives are touched by the billions of euros European governments spend in an effort to curb migration from Africa.

Since the summer of 2015,
Read more about the influx of refugees to Europe in 2015 on the UNHCR website.
when countless boats full of migrants began arriving on the shores of Greece and Italy, Europe has increased migration spending by billions.
Read my guide to EU migration policy here.
And much of this money is being spent in Africa.

Within Europe, the political left and right have very different ways of framing the potential benefits of that funding. Those on the left say migration spending not only provides Africans with better opportunities in their home countries but also reduces migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. Those on the right say migration spending discourages Africans from making the perilous journey to Europe.

However they spin it, the end result is the same: both left and right have embraced funding designed to reduce migration from Africa. In fact, the European Union (EU) plans to double migration spending under the new 2021-2027 budget, while quadrupling spending on border control.

https://i.imgur.com/ZAXFmxr.png https://i.imgur.com/Cz2dO81.png

The three of us – journalists from Nigeria, Italy and the Netherlands – began asking ourselves: just how much money are we talking here?

At first glance, it seems like a perfectly straightforward question. Just add up the migration budgets of the EU and the individual member states and you’ve got your answer, right? But after months of research, it turns out that things are nowhere near that simple.

In fact, we discovered that European migration spending resembles nothing so much as a gigantic plate of spaghetti.

If you try to tease out a single strand, at least three more will cling to it. Try to find where one strand begins, and you’ll find yourself tangled up in dozens of others.

This is deeply concerning. Though Europe maintains a pretence of transparency, in practice it’s virtually impossible to hold the EU and its member states accountable for their migration expenditures, let alone assess how effective they are. If a team of journalists who have devoted months to the issue can’t manage it, then how could EU parliament members juggling multiple portfolios ever hope to?

This lack of oversight is particularly problematic in the case of migration, an issue that ranks high on European political agendas. The subject of migration fuels a great deal of political grandstanding, populist opportunism, and social unrest. And the debate surrounding the issue is rife with misinformation.

For an issue of this magnitude, it’s crucial to have a clear view of existing policies and to examine whether these policies make sense. But to be able to do that, we need to understand the funding streams: how much money is being spent and what is it being spent on?

While working on this article, we spoke to researchers and officials who characterised EU migration spending as “opaque”, “unclear” and “chaotic”. We combed through countless websites, official documents, annual reports and budgets, and we submitted freedom of information requests
in a number of European countries, in Nigeria, and to the European commission. And we discovered that the subject of migration, while not exactly cloak-and-dagger stuff, is apparently sensitive enough that most people preferred to speak off the record.

Above all, we were troubled by the fact that no one seems to have a clear overview of European migration budgets – and by how painfully characteristic this is of European migration policy as a whole.
Nigeria – ‘a tough cookie’

It wasn’t long before we realised that mapping out all European cash flows to all African countries would take us years. Instead, we decided to focus on Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s strongest economy, as well as the country of origin of the largest group of African asylum seekers in the EU. “A tough cookie” in the words of one senior EU official, but also “our most important migration partner in the coming years”.

But Nigeria wasn’t exactly eager to embrace the role of “most important migration partner”. After all, migration has been a lifeline for Nigeria’s economy: last year, Nigerian migrants living abroad sent home $25bn – roughly 6% of the country’s GNP.

It took a major European charm offensive to get Nigeria on board – a “long saga” with “more than one tense meeting”, according to a high-ranking EU diplomat we spoke to.

The European parliament invited Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian president, to Strasbourg in 2016. Over the next several years, one European dignitary after another visited Nigeria: from Angela Merkel,
the German chancellor, to Matteo Renzi,
the Italian prime minister, to Emmanuel Macron,
the French president, to Mark Rutte,

the Dutch prime minister.

Three guesses as to what they all wanted to talk about.
‘No data available’

But let’s get back to those funding streams.

The EU would have you believe that everything fits neatly into a flowchart. When asked to respond to this article, the European commission told us: “We take transparency very seriously.” One spokesperson after another, all from various EU agencies, informed us that the information was “freely available online”.

But as Wilma Haan, director of the Open State Foundation, notes: “Just throwing a bunch of stuff online doesn’t make you transparent. People have to be able to find the information and verify it.”

Yet that’s exactly what the EU did. The EU foundations and agencies we contacted referred us to dozens of different websites. In some cases, the information was relatively easy to find,
but in others the data was fragmented or missing entirely. All too often, our searches turned up results such as “data soon available”
or “no data available”.

The website of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) – worth around €3.1bn – is typical of the problems we faced. While we were able to find a list of projects funded by AMIF online,

the list only contains the names of the projects – not the countries in which they’re carried out. As a result, there’s only one way to find out what’s going on where: by Googling each of the project names individually.

This lack of a clear overview has major consequences for the democratic process, says Tineke Strik, member of the European parliament (Green party). Under the guise of “flexibility”, the European parliament has “no oversight over the funds whatsoever”. Strik says: “In the best-case scenario, we’ll discover them listed on the European commission’s website.”

At the EU’s Nigerian headquarters, one official explained that she does try to keep track of European countries’ migration-related projects to identify “gaps and overlaps”. When asked why this information wasn’t published online, she responded: “It’s something I do alongside my daily work.”
Getting a feel for Europe’s migration spaghetti

“There’s no way you’re going to get anywhere with this.”

This was the response from a Correspondent member who researches government funding when we announced this project several months ago. Not exactly the most encouraging words to start our journey. Still, over the past few months, we’ve done our best to make as much progress as we could.

Let’s start in the Netherlands, Maite’s home country. When we tried to find out how much Dutch tax money is spent in Nigeria on migration-related issues, we soon found ourselves down yet another rabbit hole.

The Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, which controls all funding for Dutch foreign policy, seemed like a good starting point. The ministry divides its budget into centralised and decentralised funds. The centralised funds are managed in the Netherlands administrative capital, The Hague, while the decentralised funds are distributed by Dutch embassies abroad.

Exactly how much money goes to the Dutch embassy in the Nigerian capital Abuja is unclear – no information is available online. When we contacted the embassy, they weren’t able to provide us with any figures, either. According to their press officer, these budgets are “fragmented”, and the total can only be determined at the end of the year.

The ministry of foreign affairs distributes centralised funds through its departments. But migration is a topic that spans a number of different departments: the department for stabilisation and humanitarian aid (DSH), the security policy department (DVB), the sub-Saharan Africa department (DAF), and the migration policy bureau (BMB), to name just a few. There’s no way of knowing whether each department spends money on migration, let alone how much of it goes to Nigeria.

Not to mention the fact that other ministries, such as the ministry of economic affairs and the ministry of justice and security, also deal with migration-related issues.

Next, we decided to check out the Dutch development aid budget
in the hope it would clear things up a bit. Unfortunately, the budget isn’t organised by country, but by theme. And since migration isn’t one of the main themes, it’s scattered over several different sections. Luckily, the document does contain an annex (▻https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/begrotingen/2019/09/17/hgis---nota-homogene-groep-internationale-samenwerking-rijksbegroting-) that goes into more detail about migration.

In this annex, we found that the Netherlands spends a substantial chunk of money on “migration cooperation”, “reception in the region” and humanitarian aid for refugees.

And then there’s the ministry of foreign affairs’ Stability Fund,
the ministry of justice and security’s budget for the processing and repatriation of asylum seekers, and the ministry of education, culture and science’s budget for providing asylum seekers with an education.

But again, it’s impossible to determine just how much of this funding finds its way to Nigeria. This is partly due to the fact that many migration projects operate in multiple countries simultaneously (in Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, for example). Regional projects such as this generally don’t share details of how funding is divided up among the participating countries.

Using data from the Dutch embassy and an NGO that monitors Dutch projects in Nigeria, we found that €6m in aid goes specifically to Nigeria, with another €19m for the region as a whole. Dutch law enforcement also provides in-kind support to help strengthen Nigeria’s border control.

But hold on, there’s more. We need to factor in the money that the Netherlands spends on migration through its contributions to the EU.

The Netherlands pays hundreds of millions into the European Development Fund (EDF), which is partly used to finance migration projects. Part of that money also gets transferred to another EU migration fund: the EUTF for Africa.
The Netherlands also contributes directly to this fund.

But that’s not all. The Netherlands also gives (either directly or through the EU) to a variety of other EU funds and agencies that finance migration projects in Nigeria. And just as in the Netherlands, these EU funds and agencies are scattered over many different offices. There’s no single “EU ministry of migration”.

To give you a taste of just how convoluted things can get: the AMIF falls under the EU’s home affairs “ministry”

(DG HOME), the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) falls under the “ministry” for international cooperation and development (DG DEVCO), and the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) falls under the European External Action Service (EEAS). The EU border agency, Frontex, is its own separate entity, and there’s also a “ministry” for humanitarian aid (DG ECHO).

Still with me?

Because this was just the Netherlands.

Now let’s take a look at Giacomo’s country of origin, Italy, which is also home to one of Europe’s largest Nigerian communities (surpassed only by the UK).

Italy’s ministry of foreign affairs funds the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), which provides humanitarian aid in north-eastern Nigeria, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. AICS also finances a wide range of projects aimed at raising awareness of the risks of illegal migration. It’s impossible to say how much of this money ends up in Nigeria, though, since the awareness campaigns target multiple countries at once.

This data is all available online – though you’ll have to do some digging to find it. But when it comes to the funds managed by Italy’s ministry of the interior, things start to get a bit murkier. Despite the ministry having signed numerous agreements on migration with African countries in recent years, there’s little trace of the money online. Reference to a €92,000 donation for new computers for Nigeria’s law enforcement and immigration services was all we could find.

Things get even more complicated when we look at Italy’s “Africa Fund”, which was launched in 2017 to foster cooperation with “priority countries along major migration routes”. The fund is jointly managed by the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of the interior.

Part of the money goes to the EUTF for Africa, but the fund also contributes to United Nations (UN) organisations, such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as to the Italian ministry of defence and the ministry of economy and finance.

Like most European governments, Italy also contributes to EU funds and agencies concerned with migration, such as Frontex, Europol, and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

And then there are the contributions to UN agencies that deal with migration: UNHCR, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), IOM, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to name just a few.

Now multiply all of this by the number of European countries currently active in Nigeria. Oh, and let’s not forget the World Bank,

which has only recently waded into the waters of the migration industry.

And then there are the European development banks. And the EU’s External Investment Plan, which was launched in 2016 with the ambitious goal of generating €44bn in private investments in developing countries, with a particular focus on migrants’ countries of origin. Not to mention the regional “migration dialogues”
organised in west Africa under the Rabat Process and the Cotonou Agreement.

https://i.imgur.com/uu99r6b.png

This is the European migration spaghetti.
How we managed to compile a list nonetheless

By now, one thing should be clear: there are a staggering number of ministries, funds and departments involved in European migration spending. It’s no wonder that no one in Europe seems to have a clear overview of the situation. But we thought that maybe, just maybe, there was one party that might have the overview we seek: Nigeria. After all, the Nigerian government has to be involved in all the projects that take place there, right?

We decided to ask around in Nigeria’s corridors of power. Was anyone keeping track of European migration funding? The Ministry of Finance? Or maybe the Ministry of the Interior, or the Ministry of Labour and Employment?

Nope.

We then tried asking Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency (NAPTIP), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI).

No luck there, either. When it comes to migration, things are just as fragmented under the Nigerian government as they are in Europe.

In the meantime, we contacted each of the European embassies in Nigeria.
This proved to be the most fruitful approach and yielded the most complete lists of projects. The database of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)
was particularly useful in fleshing out our overview.

So does that mean our list is now complete? Probably not.

More to the point: the whole undertaking is highly subjective, since there’s no official definition of what qualifies as a migration project and what doesn’t.

For example, consider initiatives to create jobs for young people in Nigeria. Would those be development projects or trade projects? Or are they actually migration projects (the idea being that young people wouldn’t migrate if they could find work)?

What about efforts to improve border control in northern Nigeria? Would they fall under counterterrorism? Security? Institutional development? Or is this actually a migration-related issue?

Each country has its own way of categorising projects.

There’s no single, unified standard within the EU.

When choosing what to include in our own overview, we limited ourselves to projects that European countries themselves designated as being migration related.

While it’s certainly not perfect, this overview allows us to draw at least some meaningful conclusions about three key issues: where the money is going, where it isn’t going, and what this means for Nigeria.
1) Where is the money going?

In Nigeria, we found

If you’d like to work with the data yourself, feel free to download the full overview here.
50 migration projects being funded by 11 different European countries, as well as 32 migration projects that rely on EU funding. Together, they amount to more than €770m in funding.

Most of the money from Brussels is spent on improving Nigerian border control:
more than €378m. For example, the European Investment Bank has launched a €250m initiative

to provide all Nigerians with biometric identity cards.

The funding provided by individual countries largely goes to projects aimed at creating employment opportunities

in Nigeria: at least €92m.

Significantly, only €300,000 is spent on creating more legal opportunities to migrate – less than 0.09% of all funding.

https://i.imgur.com/F7ng9WA.png

We also found 47 “regional” projects that are not limited to Nigeria, but also include other countries.
Together, they amount to more than €775m in funding.
Regional migration spending is mainly focused on migrants who have become stranded in transit and is used to return them home and help them to reintegrate when they get there. Campaigns designed to raise awareness of the dangers of travelling to Europe also receive a relatively large proportion of funding in the region.

https://i.imgur.com/kM4CltW.png

2) Where isn’t the money going?

When we look at the list of institutions – or “implementing agencies”, as they’re known in policy speak – that receive money from Europe, one thing immediately stands out: virtually none of them are Nigerian organisations.

“The EU funds projects in Nigeria, but that money doesn’t go directly to Nigerian organisations,” says Charles Nwanelo, head of migration at the NCFRMI.

See their website here.
“Instead, it goes to international organisations, such as the IOM, which use the money to carry out projects here. This means we actually have no idea how much money the EU is spending in Nigeria.”

We hear the same story again and again from Nigerian government officials: they never see a cent of European funding, as it’s controlled by EU and UN organisations. This is partially a response to corruption within Nigerian institutions – Europe feels it can keep closer tabs on its money by channelling it through international organisations. As a result, these organisations are growing rapidly in Nigeria. To get an idea of just how rapidly: the number of people working for the IOM in Nigeria has more than quadrupled over the past two years.

https://i.imgur.com/aIeGcoM.png

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Nigerian organisations are going unfunded. Implementing agencies are free to pass funding along to Nigerian groups. For example, the IOM hires Nigerian NGOs to provide training for returning migrants and sponsors a project that provides training and new software to the Nigerian immigration service.

Nevertheless, the system has inevitably led to the emergence of a parallel aid universe in which the Nigerian government plays only a supporting role. “The Nigerian parliament should demand to see an overview of all current and upcoming projects being carried out in their country every three months,” says Bob van Dillen, migration expert at development organisation Cordaid.

But that would be “difficult”, according to one German official we spoke to, because “this isn’t a priority for the Nigerian government. This is at the top of Europe’s agenda, not Nigeria’s.”

Most Nigerian migrants to Europe come from Edo state, where the governor has been doing his absolute best to compile an overview of all migration projects. He set up a task force that aims to coordinate migration activities in his state. The task force has been largely unsuccessful because the EU doesn’t provide it with any direct funding and doesn’t require member states to cooperate with it.

3) What are the real-world consequences for Nigeria?

We’ve established that the Nigerian government isn’t involved in allocating migration spending and that local officials are struggling to keep tabs on things. So who is coordinating all those billions in funding?

Each month, the European donors and implementing agencies mentioned above meet at the EU delegation to discuss their migration projects. However, diplomats from multiple European countries have told us that no real coordination takes place at these meetings. No one checks to see whether projects conflict or overlap. Instead, the meetings are “more on the basis of letting each other know”, as one diplomat put it.

One German official noted: “What we should do is look together at what works, what doesn’t, and which lessons we can learn from each other. Not to mention how to prevent people from shopping around from project to project.”

Other diplomats consider this too utopian and feel that there are far too many players to make that level of coordination feasible. In practice, then, it seems that chaotic funding streams inevitably lead to one thing: more chaos.
And we’ve only looked at one country ...

That giant plate of spaghetti we just sifted through only represents a single serving – other countries have their own versions of Nigeria’s migration spaghetti. Alongside Nigeria, the EU has also designated Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia and Niger as “priority countries”. The EU’s largest migration fund, the EUTF, finances projects in 26 different African countries. And the sums of money involved are only going to increase.

When we first started this project, our aim was to chart a path through the new European zeal for funding. We wanted to track the flow of migration money to find answers to some crucial questions: will this funding help Nigerians make better lives for themselves in their own country? Will it help reduce the trafficking of women? Will it provide more safe, legal ways for Nigerians to travel to Europe?

Or will it primarily go towards maintaining the international aid industry? Does it encourage corruption? Does it make migrants even more vulnerable to exploitation along the way?

But we’re still far from answering these questions. Recently, a new study by the UNDP

called into question “the notion that migration can be prevented or significantly reduced through programmatic and policy responses”.

Nevertheless, European programming and policy responses will only increase in scope in the coming years.

But the more Europe spends on migration, the more tangled the spaghetti becomes and the harder it gets to check whether funds are being spent wisely. With the erosion of transparency comes the erosion of democratic oversight.

So to anyone who can figure out how to untangle the spaghetti, we say: be our guest.

▻https://thecorrespondent.com/154/europe-spends-billions-stopping-migration-good-luck-figuring-out-where-the-money-actually-goes/171168048128-fac42704
#externalisation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Nigeria #EU #EU #Union_européenne #externalisation #frontières #contrôles_frontaliers #Frontex #Trust_fund #Pays-Bas #argent #transparence (manque de - ) #budget #remittances #AMIF #développement #aide_au_développement #European_Development_Fund (#EDF) #EUTF_for_Africa #European_Neighbourhood_Instrument (#ENI) #Development_Cooperation_Instrument (#DCI) #Italie #Banque_mondiale #External_Investment_Plan #processus_de_rabat #accords_de_Cotonou #biométrie #carte_d'identité_biométrique #travail #développement #aide_au_développement #coopération_au_développement #emploi #réintégration #campagnes #IOM #OIM

Ajouté à la métaliste sur l’externalisation des frontières :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/731749
Et ajouté à la métaliste développement/migrations :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/733358

ping @isskein @isskein @pascaline @_kg_

À #Lagos, les pauvres n’ont plus droit de cité

En se développant à un rythme effrené, la mégalopole nigériane exclut les plus pauvres. Le quotidien britannique a suivi une famille de pêcheurs qui a été expulsée de son quartier. Nous publions ce reportage à l’occasion de l’opération “10 jours pour signer”, organisée par Amnesty International, dont Courrier international est partenaire.

https://www.courrierinternational.com/sites/ci_master/files/styles/image_original_765/public/assets/images/tjeerd_2019-11-20-1027-web.jpg?itok=M9-NQCaU#.jpg

►https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/droits-humains-lagos-les-pauvres-nont-plus-droit-de-cite

Africa: povertà e denutrizione in aumento nonostante la crescita economica e l’aumento dell’import di prodotti agro-industriali

L’Africa nel suo insieme, nonostante i progressi intrapresi a partire dall’inizio del nuovo millennio, si presenta tutt’oggi, sia dal punto di vista economico che sociale, come il continente meno sviluppato.

Sotto il primo aspetto, benché la ricchezza prodotta dall’intero continente, secondo l’Ocse, sia triplicata fra il 2000 e il 2016,[1], il pil pro capite medio africano risulta ancora di soli 2.000 $ annui[2]. Un valore che uniforma differenze anche marcate, non solo macroregionali fra la parte Mediterranea, più sviluppata, e quella sub-sahariana, più arretrata in assoluto su scala globale, ma anche fra i vari stati all’interno delle stesse, dove, ad esempio, entro quest’ultima, nel 2017[3], troviamo il Burundi con un pil pro capite di soli 312 $ a fronte della Guinea Equatoriale che invece raggiunge i 12.727 $. Avallando la definizione di alcuni analisti che preferiscono utilizzare il termine Afriche per indicare appunto una situazione di relativa differenziazione interna al continente.

Il quadro sociale

Anche sotto l’aspetto dello sviluppo sociale complessivamente l’Africa evidenzia una marcata arretratezza: nonostante la speranza di vita media alla nascita sia cresciuta fra il 2015 e il 2018 di ben 3 anni (da 50,8 a 53,9)[4], risulta ancora inferiore rispetto agli altri continenti e la mortalità infantile, benché scesa solo negli ultimi anni al di sotto della soglia del 100 per 1.000, vede gli stati della parte sub-sahariana situati in blocco nelle ultime posizioni nell’apposita graduatoria dell’Unicef relativa al 2018 (tab. 1).

Tabella 1: mortalità infantile nel primo anno di vita. Fonte (Unicef 2018)[5]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-1.jpg

Un quadro sociale generale ancora indubbiamente critico come certificato dai valori della povertà assoluta dichiarati dalla presidente della Banca africana di sviluppo Celestine Monga[1], con addirittura oltre il 40% della popolazione continentale, a fronte di una media mondiale dell’10%, che cerca di sopravvivere con meno di 1,90 $ al giorno e la sottoalimentazione che nel 2018, secondo la Fao[2], colpiva il 20% degli africani. Una drammatica situazione che vede concentrarsi, nel continente che accoglie solo il 17% della popolazione mondiale, circa un terzo del totale dei denutriti sulla Terra (con meno di 2.000 calorie al giorno), confermando che il binomio fame-povertà, lungi dall’essere sradicato, presenta addirittura un inquietante trend in fase di aggravamento.

[1] studio americano del Brookings Institution (classifica dei paesi più poveri al mondo)

[2] ▻http://www.fao.org/news/story/it/item/1180461/icode

A fronte di un tendenza globale di lungo periodo di riduzione della povertà estrema dai 1,850 miliardi (35%) del 1990 ai 735 milioni (10%) del 2015, nel periodo compreso fra il 2013 e il 2015, al cospetto di una contrazione mondiale di 68 milioni di unità, in Africa sub-sahariana, secondo la Banca Mondiale si è registrato invece un aumento di 8 milioni e addirittura 9 milioni in Nord Africa e Medio Oriente (Tab. 2). In quest’ultima area la situazione è risultata peggiore visto che i poveri sono quasi raddoppiati da 9,5 a 18,6 milioni a causa delle cosiddette Primavere arabe in Tunisia ed Egitto e delle guerre in Libia e in Siria che hanno destabilizzato dal punto di vista politico ed economico la macroregione.

Tabella 2: povertà assoluta in percentuale e in valore assoluto 2013-2015. Fonte: Banca Mondiale[8]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-2.jpg

La gravità della situazione è testimoniata dallo studio realizzato dai ricercatori del World Poverty Clock con il sostegno delle Nazioni Unite e del governo tedesco concluso nel 2018 dal quale emerge che si trovano in Africa sub-shariana 12 dei 14 paesi dove la povertà estrema risulta in aumento in valore assoluto: Nigeria, Niger, Ciad, Repubblica Centrafricana, Somalia, Repubblica Democratica del Congo, Repubblica del Congo, Angola, Zambia, Madagascar, Burundi e Sud Sudan, sul quale ci soffermeremo in seguito.

Caso paradigmatico è rappresentato, ad esempio, dalla Nigeria, stato più popoloso del continente con circa 195 milioni di abitanti, che in base alle proiezioni del World Poverty Clock 2018 del World Data Lab di Vienna[10], ad inizio 2018, risultava, nonostante le ingenti riserve petrolifere, il paese con il più elevato numero di persone in condizione di povertà assoluta, stimate a fine maggio 2018 in ben 87 milioni scalzando l’India (73 milioni) dal vertice della poco gratificante graduatoria mondiale (grafico 1). La reale gravità della situazione tuttavia emerge dal rapporto fra la consistenza demografica dei due paesi che nel 2018 risultava di ben 7:1 a favore del colosso asiatico.

Grafico 1: stati per numero di persone in povertà assoluta. Fonte: World Poverty Clock

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Grafico1.jpg

Una situazione molto critica in Nigeria, al cui interno convive il 44,2%[11] della popolazione in situazione di estrema povertà (tab. 3) e al contempo è il Paese d’origine del miliardario più ricco del continente, l’uomo d’affari Aliko Dangote, e quello dove cresce un’elite di benestanti sempre più abbienti. Povertà e disuguaglianza, fenomeno che in Europa dopo la crisi del 2008 è andato sempre consolidandosi.

Tabella 3: primi 4 paesi africani per numero di abitanti in povertà assoluta. Fonte: World Poverty Clock

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-3.jpg

Riguardo alla sottoalimentazione rileviamo una situazione ancora più critica rispetto a quella della povertà: infatti, in base al report dell’Unicef 2018[12], dopo aver toccato, a livello mondiale, il minimo storico nel 2015 a 785 milioni di persone è risalita nel 2017 a 821, dato confermato anche nel 2018[13], con l’Africa che assorbe la quasi totalità dell’aumento: ben 34,5 su 36 milioni di aumento globale. Il numero di persone sottoalimentate in Africa sale così nel 2017 a 257 milioni di unità, suddivise fra i 20 milioni nella parte Mediterranea ed i 237 in quella sub-sahariana. Quasi la metà dell‘incremento è dovuta all’aumento del numero di persone denutrite nell’Africa occidentale, mentre un altro terzo proviene dall’Africa orientale.

L’ampia porzione di Africa posta sud del Sahara si conferma così come la macroregione in stato di maggior sofferenza a livello mondiale, con la speranza di vita media più bassa, la più elevata mortalità infantile e con le maggior percentuali di persone sottoalimentate e in condizioni di povertà assoluta.

Le previsioni

Dal rapporto del World Poverty Clock pubblicato il 7 settembre 2018[14] fuoriesce, del continente africano, una situazione a luci e ombre: se da un lato, nell’Africa sub-sahariana, la povertà assoluta è prevista in riduzione dal 39% del 2018 al 27% del 2030, lo stesso problema sta invece assumendo, per alcuni paesi, i connotati di una piaga sociale endemica per la quale non si intravedono prospettive di risoluzione nemmeno a medio termine. Infatti, in base alle stime dello stesso report del World Poverty Clock pubblicato il 5 maggio 2018, è previsto che nel Continente Nero nel 2030 si troveranno sia i 13 dei 15 paesi in cui la povertà avrà registrato un aumento in valore assoluto che i primi 4, fra i soli 5, che vedranno aumentare il tasso di povertà assoluta a livello mondiale (tab. 4). Per il 2018 invece è stato calcolato un ulteriore aumento di 3 milioni di unità a livello continentale.

Tabella 4: stati africani col più elevato tasso di povertà assoluta in percentuale: stime 2018-previsioni 2030. Fonte: World Poverty Clock

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-4.jpg

Sud Sudan: l’ultimo nato in peggiori condizioni

Particolarmente drammatica risulta, dal report del Word Poverty Clock pubblicato il 1 agosto 2018[15], la situazione del Sud Sudan, paese di più recente formazione della Terra (2011), che vedrà aumentare il numero di poveri assoluti dagli 11,5 milioni del 2018 ai 14 del 2030, con una incidenza sulla popolazione che passerà dall’85,1% al 95,8% (tab. 4). Il conflitto per la leadership politica fra il presidente, Salva Kiir di etnia Dinka, e il suo vice, Riek Machar leader dei Nuer, il secondo gruppo etnico nazionale, ha insanguinato e destabilizzato il Paese per quasi 5 anni sino al luglio 2018 minandone lo sviluppo e la diversificazione economica: ancora oggi circa l’85% della popolazione attiva risulta impegnata in attività non salariate, principalmente agricoltura di sussistenza e allevamento (circa il 78% degli attivi)[16]. La sostanziale assenza dell’industria manifatturiera costringe all’importazione di quasi tutti i beni sia di consumo che intermedi; l’unico settore industriale moderno risulta quello petrolifero, nel quale dominano gli investimenti stranieri, in particolare cinesi, indiani e malesi[17]. Ricco di risorse del sottosuolo, il Sud Sudan, detiene, oltre ai pozzi petroliferi, giacimenti di oro, argento, ferro e rame.

Ricoprendo il 99% dell’export e il 60% della ricchezza nazionale, il settore petrolifero risulta di gran lunga dominante, causando tuttavia fragilità alla struttura economica nazionale a seguito della dipendenza della stessa dall’andamento delle quotazioni borsistiche: il pil pro capite secondo la Banca Mondiale è infatti crollato, insieme al valore del petrolio, dai 1.111 $ del 2014 ai meno di 228 $ del 2017[18]. Il conseguente deficit fiscale ha causato un’ondata inflazionistica e gravissime carenze alimentari: nel Paese ben 7 milioni di persone (pari al 63%) sono stati colpiti da carestia e vengono assistite tramite gli aiuti umanitari del World Food Programme (Wfp), mentre quasi 2 milioni sono gli sfollati interni e altri 2,5 milioni sono fuggiti dal Paese, dando vita alla più grave crisi dei rifugiati in Africa dopo quella del Ruanda di metà anni ’90.

A prescindere dalla grave crisi alimentare in atto, nel complesso il Sud Sudan presenta un quadro strutturale disastroso caratterizzato dall’83% di popolazione rurale, da un elevato analfabetismo (73% maschile e l’84% femminile), da una carenza di servizi pubblici che esclude il 75% della popolazione dall’assistenza sanitaria e dalla maggior percentuale di popolazione in povertà assoluta (85%) a livello mondiale, ai quali si aggiungono carenze infrastrutturali, debolezza delle istituzioni politiche, corruzione al pari del resto del continente, frammentazione etnica (ben 64 gruppi) e dispute di confine[19].

Fame in aumento e boom dell’import di prodotti agricoli: un’apparente contraddizione

Dal report del Dipartimento dell’Agricoltura degli Stati Uniti (Usda) del 2 novembre 2015[20] emerge che nel ventennio 1995-2014 le importazioni di cibo e prodotti agricoli intermedi e primari ha subito in Africa sub-sahariana un incremento medio del 13% annuo come effetto combinato della sostenuta crescita economica (60% di incremento del pil totale nei 10 anni precedenti) e del consistente incremento demografico (dai 720 del 1995 ai 1.156 milioni del 2014)[21]. Le importazioni agricole totali hanno raggiunto nel 2014 un controvalore pari a 48,5 miliardi $, secondo solo al 2013, ripartito fra i 11,7 miliardi proveniente da altri Paesi della macroregione e i 36,8 da fuori del continente. Emerge tuttavia un aspetto incoraggiante per il progetto di integrazione panafricano riconducibile alla crescita del commercio agricolo intra-africano, che fra il 2009 e il 2014, ha superato quello proveniente dall’esterno: 100% contro 60% (grafico 2).

Grafico 2: importazioni agricole in Africa sub-sahariana in miliardi $ 1994-2014

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Grafico-2.jpg

Per individuare le cause della contraddizione sottoalimentazione/aumento dell’import agroalimentare è opportuno sovrapporre alla dinamica demografica quella sociale: in Africa sub-sahariana infatti nel decennio 2005-2014 si è registrata un’espansione della classe media addirittura del 90%, ceto sociale che, al pari di quello di altre aree emergenti del Sud del mondo, persegue consumi di tipologia e livello occidentale, alimentando una sensibile crescita della domanda di tali prodotti. Infatti, dall’analisi merceologica del comparto rileviamo come le principali importazioni agroalimentari dell’Africa sub-sahariana siano prodotti orientati al consumatore: alimenti preparati, latticini, pollame, vino/birra e verdure. Tali prodotti diretti al consumo finale hanno registrato nel quinquennio 2010-2014 addirittura un incremento del 70% arrivando, in quell’anno, a rappresentare oltre il 40% delle importazioni totali della macroregione.

Al pari le importazioni di prodotti intermedi, principalmente olio di palma e zucchero, utilizzati come materie prime dall’industria agroalimentare, sono cresciute anch’esse rapidamente, mentre quelle di merci sfuse, prodotti primari destinati all’alimentazione di base, sono state invece più contenute, tant’è che l’import di cereali, in un sub-continente “affamato” rappresentavano solo il 21% nel 2014: grano 9% e riso 12% (grafico 3).

Grafico 3: paniere merceologico dell’import agroalimentare in Africa sub-sahariana 2014

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Grafico-3.jpg

Lo stesso report prospetta un futuro addirittura prosperoso per l’export agricolo statunitense verso l’Africa sub-sahariana teso al recupero delle quote perse, scese nel ventennio 1994-2005 dal 15 al 5%, in quanto la classe media della macroregione dovrebbe crescere di un ulteriore 90% nel successivo decennio 2014-2024 (grafico 4) determinando un incremento della domanda di prodotti orientati al consumatore di un altro 60%. Un business plan che, tuttavia, non mostra particolare attenzione alle fasce sociali in sofferenza.

Grafico 4: crescita in % della classe media nelle principali macroregioni terrestri 2014 – 2024

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Grafico-4.jpg

Un modello agroalimentare contraddittorio

La critica situazione alimentare del Continente Nero, e in particolare della parte sub-sahariana, è riconducibile alle distorsioni del modello agroalimentare mondiale, sempre più caratterizzato dall’Agrobusiness e dalle sue perverse dinamiche. Un settore, definito dal dizionario curato da Aldo Gabrielli come “il complesso di attività e mezzi connessi allo sviluppo capitalistico dell’agricoltura”, nel quale le finalità esulano dalla funzione primaria di soddisfacimento del fabbisogno alimentare per perseguire invece la massimizzazione del profitto in linea con le logiche capitalistiche.

Basato sull’integrazione fra agricoltura e industria, al suo interno operano poche grandi imprese multinazionali che controllano l’intera filiera: dalla produzione alla trasformazione industriale sino alla commercializzazione dei prodotti finiti. Le produzioni agricole avvengono in ogni area del pianeta, sia del Nord che del Sud, mentre i prodotti finiti vengono indirizzati dove esiste facoltà di spesa, la famosa domanda, quindi principalmente nei paesi sviluppati e verso i ceti sociali emergenti (nuovi ricchi e classi medie) di quelli in via di sviluppo (Cina, India ecc.) e addirittura di quelli ad economia meno sviluppata, come nel caso africano.

L’agricoltura costituisce l’asse portante del sistema in quanto produttrice delle indispensabili materie prime ma l’attività industriale economicamente ha la preminenza poiché gran parte del valore aggiunto deriva dalla trasformazione dei prodotti agricoli. Negli Stati Uniti, ad esempio, il sistema agroalimentare industriale assorbe il 20% della popolazione attiva ma soltanto l’1% è impiegato nel settore primario. A rimanere schiacciati da questo sistema sono i produttori locali, soprattutto quelli piccoli, del Sud del mondo ai quali vengono dettate le scelte colturali, a discapito della sovranità alimentare quindi dei prodotti di sussistenza, e imposto prezzi di acquisto molto bassi, a causa dell’asimmetria contrattuale fra le parti contraenti. Emblematico risulta a tal proposito il caso del caffè che, contrariamente ad altri prodotti di piantagione, è coltivato da una moltitudine di piccoli contadini che si trovano in condizione di subalternità rispetto alle multinazionali che acquistano la materia prima per la trasformazione e la commercializzazione.

In base al rapporto “Scopri il marchio“ di Oxfan le 10 più grandi aziende agroalimentari vale a dire Associated British Foods (Abf), Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Mondelez International (ex Kraft Foods), Nestlé, PepsiCo e Unilever generano collettivamente entrate superiori a 1,1 miliardi di dollari al giorno[22] 1 con un volume d’affari stimato intorno ai 7.000 miliardi annui, addirittura 18 volte superiore al settore dell’energia, rappresentando circa il 10% dell’economia globale. Nei vari comparti in cui operano tendono a crearsi oligopoli egemonizzati da queste imprese di enormi proporzioni, come nel comparto del cacao in cui tre aziende controllano il 30% del mercato mondiale[23] o quello della frutta tropicale dove cinque multinazionali ne coprono addirittura l’80%[24] .

Le dimensioni economiche di queste macroaziende superano talvolta quelle di stati del Sud del mondo consentendo loro di esercitare pressioni sui governi tese ad influenzarne le scelte politiche a proprio vantaggio, ma che finiscono per concretizzarsi in dinamiche vessatorie per le popolazioni locali quali: l’espansione dei latifondi, delle monocolture da esportazione e del land grabbing (l’accaparramento delle terre). Quest’ultimo fenomeno, attuato sia da imprese che da stati, affligge Sud America, Sud-est asiatico, Asia centrale e, soprattutto, l’Africa, nella quale quasi 30 milioni di ettari di terreni coltivabili, di cui ben il 64% per colture non alimentari (carta 1), sono controllati attraverso due forme contrattualistiche: acquisizioni e leasing. In particolare, principali vittime risultano i piccoli contadini che vengono schiacciati dal potere soverchiante delle grandi aziende che ne provoca un impoverimento sino a costringerli a vendere loro i terreni; in altri casi vengono addirittura espulsi con la violenza, da eserciti o paramilitari, dalle proprie terre trasformandoli in profughi, spesso costretto a fuggire all’estero. Il Centro Studi Internazionali, riporta alcuni casi emblematici relativi all’Africa come quello della regione di Gambella in Etiopia dove, dal 2010 l’esercito ha costretto molti abitanti ad abbandonare le terre e a spostarsi in altre aree a vantaggio delle imprese straniere fra le quali spicca l’impresa Saudi Star (Arabia Saudita) che è riuscita ad impossessarsi di ben 15.000 ettari di territorio per la coltivazione di canna da zucchero e riso[25]

Carta tematica 1: i principali attori attivi e passivi del land grabbing. Fonte: land matrix 2018[26]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Carta-tematica-1.jpg

Crescita senza redistribuzione

Un continente che, dopo la lunga recessione del ventennio 1980-2000, causata dalla contrazione delle quotazioni delle commodities, ha finalmente imboccato col nuovo millennio il percorso di sviluppo economico, triplicando, in base ai dati Ocse[27], la ricchezza prodotta tra il 2000 e il 2016 con una crescita media annua del 4,6% (tab. 5), la seconda più elevata a livello mondiale dopo i paesi asiatici in via di sviluppo

Tabella 5: crescita economica media annua nelle principali macroregioni del Sud del mondo fra 2.000 e 2016 in base ai dati Ocse 2018[28]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-5.jpg

Parallelamente, l’Africa nel suo complesso è risultato l’unico continente a registrare un aumento della povertà assoluta da 405 a 413 milioni fra il 2013 e il 2015 (tab. 2) ed ha assorbito nel 2017 la quasi totalità dell’incremento mondiale della sottoalimentazione, 34,5 su 36 milioni, facendo salire il numero di coloro che soffrono la fame a 257 milioni, paradossalmente in contemporanea all’aumento dell’import di prodotti agroalimentari che, fra il 1995 e il 2014, si è attestato su un valore medio annuo del +13%. Indubbiamente la rapida crescita demografica che sta interessando il continente, quasi 60 milioni fra il 2013 e il 2015 (tab. 6), ha creato problemi sociali aggiuntivi ma non è stata determinante visto che la povertà al contempo ha registrato un incremento di 8 milioni nella parte sub-sahariana e altrettanti in Nord Africa e Medio Oriente.

Tabella 6: crescita della popolazione in Africa fra il 2013 e il 2010. Fonte: population pyramid [29]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-6.jpg

Causa principale della situazione è un modello economico non inclusivo che evidentemente va a beneficio dei ricchi e del ceto medio, quest’ultimo in espansione nell’Africa sub-sahariana fra il 2005 e il 2015 addirittura del 90%, al quale vanno aggiunti problemi economici strutturali quali un’eccessiva dipendenza dall’export di prodotti primari grezzi e una massiccia penetrazione delle multinazionali, tipica dei rapporti di subordinazione neocoloniale, che fanno incetta delle abbondanti risorse minerarie, energetiche, agricole e naturali drenando ingenti profitti.

Conclusioni

Sullo sfondo di questo quadro economico e sociale resta la questione delle disparità sociali, che seppur ridottesi a livello continentale fra il 1998 e il 2013, nella parte sub-sahariana rimangono ancora le più elevate a livello mondiale dopo l’America Latina (tab. 7).

Tabella 7: riduzione dell’indice Gini nelle principali macroregioni nel breve periodo 2008-2013

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-7.jpg

La situazione risulta critica soprattutto nell’Africa australe, dove si trovano, a parte Haiti, 4 fra i 5 paesi con il più alto livello di disuguaglianza nella graduatoria mondiale nella distribuzione del reddito fra le fasce sociali, calcolata in base all’Indice Gini: Sudafrica, Botswana, Namibia e Zambia, seguiti dalla Repubblica Centrafricana nell’area equatoriale (tab. 8).

Tabella 8: stati per indice indice Gini più elevato. Fonte: World Population Rewiew 24/10/2019[30]

http://www.pisorno.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Tabella-8.jpg

Ed è lo stesso Ocse a confermare il rapporto disparità sociali/povertà: “Se l’Africa abbassasse ulteriormente il proprio coefficiente di Gini, da 41 a 35 (il livello dei Paesi asiatici in via di sviluppo), ciascun punto percentuale di crescita del PIL ridurrebbe i dati sulla povertà di un altro mezzo punto percentuale l’anno. Un tale calo nelle disuguaglianze diminuirebbe il numero di persone che vivono in povertà di 130 milioni. I progressi compiuti per ridurre la povertà estrema sono troppo lenti: nel periodo 2009-16, il 36% della popolazione africana (circa 400 milioni di persone) viveva con 1,90 dollari USA al giorno o meno, rispetto al 49% degli anni ‘90. Per una più rapida lotta alla povertà, la crescita deve diventare più inclusiva e le disuguaglianze devono essere ridotte“[31].

Rileviamo, a conforto della nostra analisi, la coincidenza di conclusioni con il Rapporto regionale 2018 sulla sicurezza alimentare e la nutrizionedella Fao[32], il quale testualmente riporta che “È interessante notare come le economie africane siano cresciute a ritmi impressionanti, spesso superiori al 5% negli ultimi dieci anni, dal 2004 al 2014. Tuttavia, la povertà e la fame sono ancora in sospeso poiché una crescita economica significativa non è risultata né integrata e né inclusiva“ aggiungendo che “L’insicurezza alimentare in alcuni paesi dell’Africa è stata aggravata dai conflitti, spesso in combinazione con condizioni meteorologiche avverse (riconducibili ai cambiamenti climatici ndr.)” e che è necessario “Orientare le politiche nazionali di sicurezza alimentare verso una maggiore autosufficienza alimentare interna“, vale a dire eliminare il land grabbing, ridurre i latifondi ed estromettere le monocolture da esportazione e riacquisire la sovranità alimentare.

Una sfida impegnativa per il Continente nero quella dello sviluppo autonomo, integrato ed inclusivo che passa attraverso un processo di integrazione continentale (un passo significativo in tal senso è rappresentato dall’entrata in vigore dell’Area di Libero Scambio dell’Africa – Afcfta – il 30 maggio 2019 che secondo la Commissione economica Onu per l’Africa potrebbe incrementare del 53% il commercio intra-africano[33]) e per il superamento della subordinazione neocoloniale, imposta dalle potenze Occidentali e in forme diverse, recentemente, anche dalla Cina.

Un percorso, come tutti i processi emancipatori, che non può prescindere da una rottura della storica subalternità politica dei Paesi africani e la riscrittura di un nuovo ordine economico, commerciale e finanziario che può essere implementato solo da una nuova classe dirigente preparata, non corrotta e con un efficace progetto panafricano. In pratica l’effettiva indipendenza, 60 anni dopo quella formale.

▻http://www.pisorno.it/africa-poverta-e-denutrizione-in-aumento-nonostante-la-crescita-economica-e-

#Afrique #pauvreté #économie #croissance_économique #exportation #importation #industrie_agro-alimentaire #sous-alimentation #alimentation #mortalité_enfantile #pauvreté_absolue #Nigeria #RDC #République_démocratique_du_congo #statistiques #chiffres #Sud_Soudan #Soudan_du_Sud #land_grabbing #accaparement_des_terrres

Femmes nigérianes prostituées à #Lyon : « payer l’enfer pour rester en enfer »

Lors du procès d’un vaste réseau de prostitution de femmes Nigérianes qui a pris fin vendredi 15 novembre à Lyon, aucune des dix-sept victimes n’a témoigné à la barre. Mais lors de leurs plaidoiries, les avocats des parties civiles ont levé le voile sur le parcours de vie de ces femmes. Des récits glaçants, qui les mènent de #Benin_City à la traversée de la Libye et de la Méditerranée, jusqu’aux trottoirs de Lyon.

Pas une n’aura témoigné à la barre, ou dans la presse. Les dix-sept femmes Nigérianes victimes d’un vaste #réseau_de_prostitution ont été les grandes absentes du procès qui s’est ouvert au tribunal correctionnel de Lyon mercredi 6 novembre et qui doit se terminer vendredi.

« On préfère qu’elles ne soient pas là, pour les protéger », explique à Infomigrants, Anne Portier, avocate d’Équipes d’action contre le #proxénétisme (EACP), l’une des deux associations qui s’est constituée partie civile aux côtés des victimes. L’avocate évoque ainsi « la #peur » de ces jeunes femmes dont certaines ont d’ailleurs retiré leur #plainte et « les risques de pressions » dans une petite communauté « où l’information circule vite ». De fait, 23 des 24 prévenus poursuivis pour aide au séjour irrégulier, proxénétisme aggravé, traite d’êtres humains, association de malfaiteurs et blanchiment d’argent en bande organisée sont, comme les victimes, originaires du Nigéria.

Les avocats des parties civiles se sont donc succédé, mercredi 13 novembre, pour retracer par fragments la trajectoire de vie de chacune de ces femmes aujourd’hui âgées de 17 à 38 ans et qui tentent de reconstruire leur vie à l’étranger, en région parisienne ou encore en Isère.

De Benin City à Lyon, le même piège pour toutes

De prime abord, leurs parcours se ressemblent jusqu’à se confondre : une jeune femme, originaire de Benin City dans l’État nigérian d’Edo, peu éduquée et parfois en rupture avec ses parents, à qui une connaissance fait miroiter le rêve d’une vie meilleure en Europe. S’ensuit, avant le départ, le rite #vaudou du « #juju » au cours duquel la jeune femme s’engage à rembourser une #dette de plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’euros au titre de sa migration. Un montant dont il est difficile de prendre la mesure, 30.000 nairas nigérians équivalant à environ 80 euros.

Vient ensuite la traversée de la Libye puis de la Méditerranée et l’arrivée en Europe, souvent en Italie, avant le passage en France et « la prise en charge » par une « mama » proxénète (10 des prévenus sont des femmes). La routine infernale s’enclenche alors avec les passes à 10 ou 30 euros dans une camionnette stationnée dans les quartiers lyonnais de Perrache ou Gerland. Au-delà de la dette de 30.000 ou 50.000 euros à rembourser, les femmes prostituées doivent encore payer un loyer de plusieurs centaines d’euros par mois. Tout est d’ailleurs prétexte pour leur facturer davantage, même la clé perdue de leur camionnette. « Payer l’enfer pour rester en enfer », résumera un des avocats des parties civiles.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/18d9fdfabcc1fab81cf2ea8ea6f6553bbd9b80d9.jpeg

Détails de vie terribles

Au fil des plaidoiries, la singularité des histoires, des parcours et des personnalités apparaît et des détails terribles surgissent. Il y a E. et M., aujourd’hui âgées de 23 ans, et compagnes de voyage et d’infortune dans leur périple jusqu’en France. L’une travaillait dans un salon de coiffure, l’autre rêvait de devenir couturière en Europe lorsqu’on leur propose de quitter le Nigeria. L’espoir tournera vite au cauchemar en Libye lorsque E. sera violée par trois gardiens sous les yeux de M., après s’être interposée pour défendre cette dernière. « Quand on les rencontre aujourd’hui, elles ont une attitude forte. Mais dès que l’on gratte, ça s’effondre », résume leur avocate.

Il y a E., 17 ans et demi, la plus jeune victime de cette affaire. Son avocat la décrit comme une jeune fille « sous la coupe de la sorcellerie auquel s’ajoute un lien de famille (la jeune fille a été prostituée par sa propre mère NDLR) qui vient sceller un quasi silence ». Et l’avocat d’insister sur le serment quasi sacré qui la liait du fait du ‘juju’ : « Même longtemps après, dans un lieu de confiance, devant des associatifs, elle n’en parlait jamais. Cela dit bien le poids que cela peut représenter ».

Il y a C. qui a contracté une dette de 70.000 euros, « à 30 euros la passe, cela représente 2.300 passes », relève son avocate. Frappée lorsqu’elle ose s’opposer à son proxénète, sa situation irrégulière la retiendra longtemps de se présenter aux services de police.

Il y a J., vierge à son arrivée en France, et violée par son proxénète avant d’être prostituée.

Il y a E. dont l’avocate raconte qu’un de ses clients lui a, un jour, posé un mouchoir sur le nez et qu’elle ne se souvient pas de ce qui s’est passé ensuite. « Elle a été dépossédée de son corps pendant 5 heures », dit l’avocate.

Il y aussi Cynthia. Son statut dans cette affaire est particulier : à la fois prévenue et victime, elle a témoigné à la barre vendredi dernier. "Cynthia a été un an la prostituée d’Helen (une des « mamas » proxénètes NDLR) et un an son affranchie", a expliqué son avocate. Alors que les écoutes téléphoniques indiquent qu’une fois « affranchie » après avoir honoré sa dette en 14 mois en « travaillant tous les jours », Cynthia a fait venir, à son tour, une jeune Nigériane pour l’exploiter. « Monter en grade », est souvent la seule issue pour ces femmes qui ne parlent pas français, selon les associations de lutte contre la prostitution.

« Qui est le propriétaire de X ? »

« On se passe ces femmes comme des objets, on parle d’elles comme de choses », dénoncera une des avocates des parties civiles en appelant à condamner les passeurs. L’avocate d’Équipes d’action contre le proxénétisme (EACP) citera, elle, dans sa plaidoirie les expressions révélatrices utilisée par les proxénètes sur écoute téléphonique : « qui est le propriétaire de X ? », « dans le lot »…

Alors que des prévenus sont poursuivis pour « traite d’êtres humains », Anne Portier dénoncera dans sa plaidoirie un #esclavage du 21ème siècle où les bateaux pneumatiques traversant la Méditerranée ont remplacé les navires négriers traversant l’Atlantique et où les champs de coton sont désormais des camionnettes où se succèdent les clients.

Le ministère public a requis dix ans de prison pour les deux chefs du réseau et diverses peines allant de six à dix ans pour les maillons.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/20877/femmes-nigerianes-prostituees-a-lyon-payer-l-enfer-pour-rester-en-enfe
#prostitution #France #migrations #Nigeria #traite_d'êtres_humains #néo-esclavage #exploitation #esclavage_moderne

’Sex For Grades’: How The BBC Exposed A Scandal In West Africa : Goats and Soda : NPR
▻https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/10/25/771427782/how-undercover-journalists-exposed-west-africas-sex-for-grades-scandal

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/10/18/victim_wide-a446a56a525efeb4c74d3660f29755b3bfcc3a71.jpg?s=1400

“I’m a 28-year-old who never got to finish school because of one thing,” says Kiki Mordi. “It wasn’t because I wasn’t brilliant or anything — I was a high flyer when I was growing up. But I didn’t even finish. All because of sexual harassment.”

According to Mordi, one of her professors withheld her exam results for two semesters because she refused his sexual advances, leading her to drop out of school and give up her dream of becoming a doctor. Mordi tried to report her sexual harassment at the time but says, “It was clear nothing was going to be done.”

“That’s robbery,” she says. “If there’s any one place in the world girls should feel safe, it’s school.”

Mordi pursued journalism instead, and her most recent project — the BBC Africa Eye documentary Sex for Grades — tackles sexual harassment at West African universities. Mordi and her team interviewed dozens of current and former students about their experiences with sexual harassment.

Their research culminated in an hourlong film that shows Mordi and three other undercover reporters using hidden cameras over the course of three months to film lecturers at the regionally prominent University of Lagos and University of Ghana. In the footage, lecturers harass, proposition and attempt to blackmail Mordi and her fellow reporters in closed-door meetings.

The documentary aims to open the door for conversation about a topic that Olabukunola Williams, executive director of the Nigerian nonprofit Education as a Vaccine, says is “pervasive in Nigeria.”

Sexual harassment at universities, she says, “is like an open secret, it’s crazy. Everybody has a story.”

ON peut voir le documentaire de Kiki Mordi publié par la BBC à : ▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we-F0Gi0Lqs&feature=youtu.be

#Prédation_sexuelle #Ghana #Nigeria #Université #Diplomes_contre_sexe #Documentaire #BBC

IOM Organizes First Humanitarian #Charter Flight from Algeria to Niger

This week (15/10), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized its first flight for voluntary return from the southern Algerian city of #Tamanrasset to Niger’s capital, #Niamey, carrying 166 Nigerien nationals, in close collaboration with the Governments of Algeria and Niger.

This is the first movement of its kind for vulnerable Nigerien migrants through IOM voluntary return activities facilitated by the governments of Algeria and Niger and in close cooperation with Air Algérie. This flight was organized to avoid a long tiring journey for migrants in transit by using a shorter way to go home.

For the first flight, 18 per cent of the returnees, including women and children were selected for their vulnerabilities, including medical needs.

“The successful return of over 160 vulnerable Nigerien migrants through this inaugural voluntary return flight ensures, safe and humane return of migrants who are in need of assistance to get to their country of origin,” said Paolo Caputo, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Algeria. “This movement is the result of the combined efforts of both IOM missions and the Governments of Algeria and Niger.”

IOM staff in Algeria provided medical assistance to more than 10 migrants prior to their flight and ensured that all their health needs were addressed during their travel and upon arrival in Niger.

IOM also provides technical support to the Government of Niger in registering the returned Nigeriens upon arrival in Niger and deliver basic humanitarian assistance before they travel to their communities of origin.

Since 2016, IOM missions in Niger and Libya have assisted over 7,500 Nigerien migrants with their return from Libya through voluntary humanitarian return operations.

Upon arrival, the groups of Nigerien migrants returning with IOM-organized flights from both Algeria and Libya receive assistance, such as food and pocket money, to cover their immediate needs, including in-country onward transportation.

After the migrants have returned to their communities of origin, IOM offers different reintegration support depending on their needs, skills and aspirations. This can include medical assistance, psychosocial support, education, vocational training, setting up an income generating activity, or support for housing and other basic needs.

“This movement today represents a big step in the right direction for the dignified return of migrants in the region,” said Barbara Rijks, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Niger. “We are grateful for the financial support of the Governments of the United Kingdom and Italy who have made this possible,” she added.

https://i.imgur.com/XxNioXz.png

Ajouté à cette métaliste sur les refoulements d’Algérie au Niger
►https://seenthis.net/messages/748397
Ici il s’agit plutôt de migrants abandonnés dans le désert, alors que l’OIM parle de « dignified return », mais je me demande jusqu’à quel point c’est vraiment différent...

signalé par @pascaline

ping @karine4 @_kg_ @isskein

#Libre_circulation des personnes et des biens dans l’espace #CEDEAO : analyse sur la longue fermeture des frontières du Nigeria

Depuis le 20 août le puissant Nigéria, membre de la communauté économique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest a fermé ses frontières pénalisant ainsi les peuples voisins qui vivent des échanges.

Comment comprendre une telle décision alors que depuis 1975 la CEDEAO a été créée, justement pour briser les barrières et réunir les peuples ?

▻https://www.studiokalangou.org/index.php/magazines/11986-libre-circulation-personnes-biens-espace-cedeao-analyse-longue
#Nigeria #fermeture_des_frontières #frontières #Afrique_de_l'Ouest
ping @karine4 @isskein

Nigerian migrants struggle to reintegrate after Libya ordeal

Emerging from her ordeal, Gloria considers herself “privileged”. Last year, the 26-year-old left Nigeria with four other women, dreaming of a better life in Europe.

On a tortuous journey, three of the five friends died before reaching Libya, where the two survivors were stranded for almost a year. Now only Gloria is back home in Nigeria.

She dreamed of being a fashion designer but now sews synthetic tracksuits in a shabby workshop in Benin City, southern Nigeria, for 15,000 naira a month ($41.50, 38 euros).

“After transport, the money is almost finished”, she says.

Still, she adds quickly, she “thanks God for having a job”.

Her employment is part of a training programme, set up by southern Edo State, the departure point for most Nigerian migrants.

Gloria is one of nearly 14,000 young Nigerians to have returned from Libya since 2017 under a United Nations voluntary repatriation programme.

She and the other returnees quoted in this story asked not to be identified by their real names.

She is “not asking for too much”, just a roof over her head and to be able to eat, Gloria tells AFP.

But she blames herself for daring to dream that life could be better elsewhere and believing the smugglers’ promises that they would reach Europe within two weeks.

– Broke and broken -

In Libya, prospects of crossing the Mediterranean vanished, after a tightening of European Union immigration policies.

Many spend months, even years stranded in Libya, sold as slaves by their smugglers.

But once back home in Nigeria, life is even more difficult than before: saddled with debt, struggling to find work, broken by their treatment at the hands of the traffickers and by their failed dreams.

Human Rights Watch highlighted the “continuing anguish” that returnees face.

Many suffer long-term mental and physical health problems as well as social stigma on returning to Nigeria, the report released last month said.

Government-run centres tasked with looking after them are poorly funded and “unable to meet survivors’ multiple needs for long-term comprehensive assistance”, it added.

Edo State has set up a support programme which is rare in Nigeria.

The state hosts some 4,800 of the nearly 14,000 returnees — most aged 17 to 35 and with no diploma or formal qualifications.

Under the scheme, they can travel for free to Benin City, Edo’s capital, stay two nights in a hotel, receive an hour of psychological support and an about 1,000-euro allowance.

It barely moves the needle for those starting again but is enough to stoke envy in a country where state aid is scarce and 83 million people live in extreme poverty.

– Stigma -

Showing potential students around, Ukinebo Dare, of the Edo Innovates vocational training programme, says many youngsters grumble that returnees get “preferential treatment”.

In modern classrooms in Benin City, a few hundred students learn to “code”, do photography, start a small business and learn marketing in courses open to all.

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/17/05/wire-18560218-1568692924-785_634x422.jpg

“Classes are both for the youth and returnees, (be)cause we don’t want the stigma to affect them,” Dare said.

“It’s a priority for us to give youth, who are potential migrants, opportunities in jobs they can be interested in.”

According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, 55 percent of the under-35s were unemployed at the end of last year.

Tike had a low paying job before leaving Nigeria in February 2017 but since returning from Libya says his life is “more, more, more harder than before”.

Although he returned “physically” in December 2017 he says his “mindset was fully corrupted”.

“I got paranoid. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t sleep, always looking out if there is any danger,” he said, at the tiny flat he shares with his girlfriend, also back from Libya, and their four-month-old daughter.

– Crime -

A few months after returning, and with no psychological support, Tike decided to train to be a butcher.

But, more than a year since he registered for help with reintegration programmes, including one run by the International Organization for Migration, he has not found a job and has no money to start his own business.

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“We, the youth, we have no job. What we have is cultism (occult gangs),” Tike says.

“People see it as a way of getting money, an excuse for getting into crime.”

Since last year, when Nigeria was still in its longest economic recession in decades, crime has increased in the state of Edo, according to official data.

“Returnees are seen as people who are coming to cause problems in the community,” laments Lilian Garuba, of the Special Force against Illegal Migration.

“They see them as failure, and not for what they are: victims.”

– Debt spiral -

Peter, 24, was arrested a few days after his return.

His mother had borrowed money from a neighbourhood lender to raise the 1,000 euros needed to pay his smuggler.

“As soon as he heard I was back, he came to see her. She couldn’t pay (the debt), so I was arrested by the police,” he told AFP, still shaking.

Financially crippled, his mother had to borrow more money from another lender to pay off her debts.

Peter’s last trip was already his second attempt.

“When I first came back from Libya, I thought I was going to try another country. I tried, but in Morocco it was even worse and thank God I was able to return to Nigeria,” he said, three weeks after getting back.

“Now I have nothing, nothing,” he said, his voice breaking.

“All I think about is ’kill yourself’, but what would I gain from it? I can’t do that to my mother.”

▻https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-7471729/Nigerian-migrants-struggle-reintegrate-Libya-ordeal.html
#réintégration #Nigeria #asile #Libye #retour_volontaire #retour_au_pays #renvois #expulsions #migrations #réfugiés #Assisted_Return_and_Reintegration_Programmes
ping @isskein @_kg_

Article sur le #réseau de #prostitution de #femmes nigérianes en #France (publié en mai 2015)
Trahies, battues, violées: l’enfer des prostituées nigérianes en France

« Je croyais qu’une fois en France, j’allais étudier, que l’enfer allait s’arrêter », raconte Joy, forcée à se prostituer pour payer son exil. Comme elle, des centaines de jeunes Nigérianes en quête d’une vie meilleure, finissent, après un voyage traumatisant, sous la coupe d’un réseau de prostitution.

Dans les rues des grandes villes de France, elles sont aujourd’hui les plus nombreuses, devant les filles de l’Est ou les Chinoises, selon les autorités, et pratiquent les tarifs les plus bas, à partir de 10 euros la passe.

La plupart arrivent d’Italie, où elles ont passé jusqu’à plusieurs années. « Les réseaux nigérians se déplacent vers la France en provenance d’Italie », confirme Didier Leschi, directeur général de l’Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (Ofii). La lutte contre les mafias nigérianes engagée par le gouvernement italien a forcé ces réseaux à se déplacer vers le Sud-Est de l’Hexagone.

A Marseille, où la part des prostituées nigérianes a nettement augmenté ces dernières années, Michel Martinez, chef de la brigade de répression du proxénétisme (BRP), a appris à connaître ces réseaux « très organisés » : « Au pays, les filles sont recrutées par une +madame+, souvent une ancienne prostituée, qui les surveille et les met au travail, tandis que les hommes s’occupent du passage, de la logistique, de récupérer l’argent ».
« Des invisibles »

Leur parcours —Niger, Libye puis Italie en général— dure 2-3 mois « pendant lesquels elles sont privées de nourriture, violées, et elles commencent à travailler car elles n’ont pas d’argent pour payer le voyage ». Le prix de l’exode : 50.000 euros en moyenne, qu’elles doivent rembourser en se prostituant.

Happy, qui a aujourd’hui refait sa vie à Marseille, a par exemple laissé derrière elle deux enfants au Nigeria pour fuir un mari violent. Forcée à se prostituer par ses passeurs pour payer son voyage vers l’Europe, elle finit par fuir l’Italie, où elle était « persécutée par la police, les hommes », raconte-t-elle à l’AFP, et traverse les Alpes, enceinte de 8 mois. « C’était terrible », décrit-elle en anglais, « j’ai dû grimper, sauter, courir avec mon gros ventre, mais j’y suis arrivée et j’ai sauvé mon bébé ».

Les proxénètes sont très difficiles à « coincer », pointe aussi Michel Martinez : « Ce sont des personnes très peu visibles : elles n’utilisent pas le téléphone, sont très mobiles, changent de perruque, d’adresse, de numéro... Parfois les +madames+ s’échangent même les filles pour brouiller les pistes ».

Pour faire tomber les réseaux, la police s’appuie sur les associations, qui peuvent convaincre les filles de porter plainte. Une démarche « extrêmement délicate » selon Lionel Arsiquaud, éducateur spécialisé de l’Amicale du Nid à Marseille, qui a vu « exploser » les arrivées de Nigérianes, qui représentent maintenant 80 % de son public. « C’est d’autant plus difficile qu’elles ne se sentent pas victimes de traite humaine », développe ce travailleur social.

« Elles ont peur de tout, ce sont des invisibles », renchérit Elisabeth Moiron-Braud, secrétaire générale de la Mission interministérielle pour la protection des femmes contre les violences et la lutte contre la traite des êtres humains (Miprof). « Quand elles arrivent en France, elles ont un lourd passif, elles ont été traitées comme du bétail en Libye ».

Joy, à qui on avait fait miroiter des études en France, a été recrutée à Benin City, plaque tournante de trafics en tous genres. « Dans mon pays, on ne parle pas de prostitution, on dit qu’on va +se faire sponsoriser le voyage+ », souligne-t-elle. Il y a 10 ans, cette coiffeuse « très pauvre », qui peine à manger chaque jour, fait confiance à un homme qui dit vouloir l’aider.

Dans ses bagages, elle emmène tous les livres qu’elle possède pour ses futures études. Le voyage dure un an, durant lequel son « sponsor », qui l’avait recrutée, la force à se prostituer. « Je couchais avec des hommes arabes, souvent armés, j’étais tellement battue et violée que je ne pouvais plus marcher ni m’asseoir, mais j’étais sûre qu’en France tout s’arrangerait », raconte la jeune femme aux longs cheveux bouclés. Quand elle raconte à ses compagnes d’infortune qu’elle va étudier, « elles se moquent » d’elle.
Rituel vaudou

Arrivée en France, elle comprend que son calvaire ne fait que commencer : « La +madame+ du réseau m’a dit que je lui devais 40.000 euros et que pour ça je devais aller sur le trottoir ».

Pour Lionel Arsiquaud, les réseaux ont d’autant moins de mal à tenir les filles sous leur coupe qu’il s’agit de personnes « conditionnées, dans leur pays, à être esclaves de maison ou dans les champs, à ne pas toujours être payées pour leur travail ».

Des jeunes filles, parfois mineures, issues de familles « malveillantes et maltraitantes, qui parfois les vendent aux passeurs et à la +madame+ ». En général, explique Célia Mistre, directrice de l’Amicale du Nid 13, « elles souhaitent arrêter parce qu’elles sont enceintes ou à cause des violences, pas tant à cause de la prostitution qu’elles ont intégrée psychologiquement comme un poids à porter ».

Un fardeau sanctuarisé par le rituel du « juju », un rituel vaudou qui lie les filles jusqu’à la mort à leur « madame ». Joy se souvient d’une cérémonie « effrayante, où je devais donner du sang, des cheveux, une dent même ». Quand elle trouve la force de quitter le réseau en 2015, sa « madame » appelle ses parents au Nigeria pour les menacer d’activer le « juju » contre eux.

Aujourd’hui maman de deux petites filles nées à Marseille, Joy tente d’obtenir des papiers pour travailler légalement en France. Depuis qu’elle a porté plainte contre ses proxénètes, la trentenaire se sent « comme entre parenthèses », dans l’attente d’une nouvelle vie.

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▻https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/trahies-battues-violees-l-enfer-des-prostituees-nigerianes-en-france-03-05-2
#migrations #asile #réfugiés #traite_d'êtres_humains #Nigeria

Les violences xénophobes en #Afrique du Sud choquent le reste du continent
▻https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/130919/les-violences-xenophobes-en-afrique-du-sud-choquent-le-reste-du-continent

Depuis début septembre, les attaques xénophobes se multiplient dans le « pays de Nelson Mandela ». Ces violences ont commencé avec une grève lancée par des chauffeurs routiers affirmant que les étrangers volent les emplois des Sud-Africains. Dans le reste du continent, les réactions sont vives, en particulier au Nigeria.

#Nigeria,_violences,_Madagascar,_Tanzanie,_Afrique_du_Sud,_Zambie

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