Niger military junta expels Red Cross without explanation
The military junta in Niger has expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross from the country without any explanation.
Reported by the RFI on February 6th, the Foreign Affairs Ministry asked the ICRC to leave the country after denouncing certain agreements and behaviors of the non-governmental organization and making sovereignty a central tenet of their foreign affairs policy.
Interior Minister General Mohamed Toumba has said the government found “many NGOs are involved with the partners who are waging war against us… through the support they often give to terrorists,” although further explanation was not given, reported by RFI.
Of apparent, yet unlikely, coincidence, the Red Cross had just released a report on its activities in Niger during the first half of 2024 on February 4th which became the same day it was given a verbal order to leave the country. The report detailed the provisions that the Red Cross provided to over 120,000 victims of armed conflict last year.
No official reason for the decision has been given by the Niger junta, yet RFI has pointed out that the French NGO ACTED and its Nigerian partner APBE had a similar experience in November.
Niger has, as mentioned, focused on the withdrawal of regional and international institutions and asserted a policy of national sovereignty in all areas; it has expelled French and American soldiers it had engaged in anti-terrorism operations with, withdrawn from the ECOWAS regional bloc, and has now expelled internationally recognized NGOs from assisting its population.
It appears the state has rejected western institutions, stating in November that the EU’s unilateral distribution of humanitarian aid to NGOs disregarded the principles of transparency and collaboration, before the EU recalled their envoy, reported by Maghrebi.
Whilst the ruling junta continue to prioritize their sovereignty in an effort to stabilize their rule, nearly 1 in 5 people in Niger require humanitarian aid which will, inevitably, be scarcer following the expulsion of the Red Cross.
RFI, ICRC, Maghrebi
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