Situation sécuritaire

English

This COI Focus describes the current security situation in Niger, more particularly during the period from 1 February 2018 to 30 April 2019. It updates two previous COI Focus Niger. Situation sécuritaire dated 23 May 2016 and Niger. Addendum. Situation sécuritaire du 1er mai 2016 au 31 janvier 2018 dated 20 February 2018.

The documentary research was closed on 2 May 2019. However, because the Nigerian government decided, at the time of writing this COI Focus, i. e. in June 2019, to extend the state of emergency in several départements, information on this topic has been updated.

For the government of President Mahamadou Issoufou, who was elected for a second term in office in March 2016, the fight against terrorism is a top priority. Since 2015, armed jihadi groups have been conducting raids into Nigerien territory. In 2018, the Nigerien security and defence forces conducted several operations against  these armed groups, either on their own or together with regional and international troops. Niger is part of the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) and of the mixed multinational force set up by the countries of the Chad lake basin (Cameroun, Niger, Nigeria and Chad). France is also present in Niger through operation Barkhane and has several military bases in the country. The United States provide military equipment. The following terrorist groups are active in Niger : Boko Haram, which carries out raids from neighbouring Nigeria, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, which is active in the area where the borders of  Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger meet, and several jihadi groups present along the border with Burkina Faso. Violence is also committed by Tuareg and Peul militias, who are fighting each other over natural resources on both sides of the border between Mali and Niger. Finally, criminal groups are present around Diffa and Agadez.

The security situation in the area bordering Burkina Faso and Mali has deteriorated significantly in the second half of 2018. Attacks from terrorist groups have left about one hundred dead in 2018. In February 2019, the United Nations considered the situation in southeast Niger to be “volatile”.

During the reporting period, violence consisted mainly of attacks by armed terrorist groups, communal fighting and banditry. Civilians and security and defence forces were targeted by the violence.

Three of the country’s regions, out of a total of eight, have been affected by violence: terrorist  groups are operating in the western Tahoua and Tillaberi regions, close to Burkina Faso and Mali, and Boko Haram is active in the southeastern Diffa region, close to the Nigerian border. A state of emergency has been in force in several départements of the Tahoua and Tillaber regions since 2017, and in the whole of the Diffa region since 2015.

In the Tillaberi and Tahoua regions, more than 50,000 persons fled the violence caused by terrorist groups in 2018. In March 2019, these two regions counted 70,305 internally displaced persons, whereas the Diffa region counted  104,300, with an additional 18,800 in March 2019. In December 2018, a law granting protection to IDPs was adopted in Niger

According to a UN estimate, more than 2 million persons, half of them in areas affected by terrorism, needed humanitarian assistance in the beginning of 2019. Aid distribution is made more complicated by the presence of armed groups. About one hundred schools have had to close down since 2015. In the three regions where the state of emergency is in force, the freedom of movement of civilians is restricted because of a curfew.

Policy

The policy implemented by the Commissioner General is based on a thorough analysis of accurate and up-to-date information on the general situation in the country of origin. This information is collated in a professional manner from various, objective sources, including the EASO, the UNHCR, relevant international human rights organisations, non-governmental organisations, professional literature and coverage in the media. When determining policy, the Commissioner General does not only examine the COI Focuses written by Cedoca and published on this website, as these deal with just one aspect of the general situation in the country of origin. The fact that a COI Focus could be out-of-date does not mean that the policy that is being implemented by the Commissioner General is no longer up-to-date.

When assessing an application for asylum, the Commissioner General not only considers the actual situation in the country of origin at the moment of decision-making, he also takes into account the individual situation and personal circumstances of the applicant for international protection. Every asylum application is examined individually. An applicant must comprehensively demonstrate that he has a well-founded fear of persecution or that there is a clear personal risk of serious harm. He cannot, therefore, simply refer back to the general conditions in his country, but must also present concrete, credible and personal facts.

There is no policy paper for this country available on the website.

Land: 
Niger

Information about the asylum procedure, tailored to the asylum seeker, can be found at : asyluminbelgium.be.