2023-08-02 16:38:51
An emergency device in the face of growing danger. Since the dismissal of President Mohamed Bazoum by his presidential guard on July 26, the political situation has been explosive in Niger. In this context, the Quai d’Orsay organized the evacuation of some 600 French people living in this Sahelian country, who expressed the wish to leave. How are these evacuations organised? Has the French State obtained guarantees concerning the French who wish to remain in Niger? We take stock of the first major massive evacuation organized by Paris in the Sahel.
How many French people have been repatriated to Paris?
Of the 1,200 French people registered on the consular lists in Niger, around 600 of them have expressed the wish to return to France. To evacuate them, the Quai d’Orsay has provided four planes. For now, two planes have landed in Paris. The first aircraft landed Tuesday evening in Roissy with “262 people, including a dozen babies,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told AFP. During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, a second plane landed on French soil with “234 people on board”, according to an airport source.
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More than 350 French people were evacuated, while men and women of other nationalities (Indians, Canadians, Americans, Belgians) also boarded French planes. The French State has announced its desire to complete its evacuation operations this Wednesday.
“It feels good,” said relieved Raïssa Kelembho, who returned from Niger with her two boys. “At one point, there was a feeling of insecurity, we knew that everything could change,” explained to AFP the mother, whose husband remained in Niger for work.
How does Paris justify the evacuations?
“Our priority is the safety of our nationals on site. This is why we have decided, as indicated by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs [Catherine Colonna], to launch an operation allowing the French and Europeans who would like to, to leave the country by the air means that we make available to them, “said the Quai d’Orsay in a press release. Concretely, France justified the evacuation by the “violence which took place” against its embassy on Sunday after a hostile demonstration, and by “the closure of the air space of Niger”.
On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, Niamey announced the reopening of its airspace and its land borders with Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali and Chad, five border countries. A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is currently in Niger to “negotiate” with the putschists. According to the organization, military intervention is the “last option” but we must “prepare for this eventuality”.
How does Paris intend to protect the French who remained there?
For the 600 French people who expressed the desire to stay put, the Quai d’Orsay indicates in a press release that the embassy “continues to work in Niger and remains mobilized for their safety”. In addition, the evacuation of the French soldiers stationed in Niger is “not on the agenda”, indicated to the press the general staff of the French armies.
In Niamey, the junta accused France on Monday of wanting to “intervene militarily”, which Paris denied. For now, other Western countries have taken different positions. Like France, Italy has also organized the evacuation of a hundred of its nationals, while the United States has not taken a decision in this direction for the moment. A pro-coup movement has called for a daily peaceful rally near the airport “until the final departure of foreign forces”.
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