World
EU-Niger migration cooperation at risk
Once a key partner for the European Union in fighting irregular migration, July’s coup d’état in Niger has put that partnership at risk, with the military junta repealing a key anti-trafficking law in response to EU sanctions.
An anti-trafficking law, passed in 2015 but repealed last November just months after the junta’s military takeover, had hugely reduced migrant traffic through the city of Agadez – Niger’s fifth largest city – into the Sahara desert.
In July last year, Niger’s presidential guard detained the president, Mohamed Bazoum, citing a “deteriorating security situation and bad governance.” Neighbouring countries Mali and Burkina Faso – which are also under junta control – backed the military takeover.
The coup was a shock for Brussels, which had long cultivated ties with Niger in order to strengthen the EU’s own border controls.
As far back as 2004, the EU has been attempting to bolster Niger’s resources in tackling rebels in the north of the country as well as possible terrorism links. That was in exchange for Niger’s help in externalising the EU’s own migration controls.
Since then, the relationship had only grown. Between 2012 and 2016, EU missions tasked with reducing insecurity and terrorism and combatting irregular migration were launched. Made up of some 150 EU officials, the mission was extended for another two years in 2022 and awarded a budget of €72 million.
The 2015, the anti-trafficking bill now repealed by the junta had introduced severe penalties, including fines and imprisonment for involvement in smuggling or trafficking.
It has been suggested that some of these EU-promoted migration policies in Niger may have contributed to the coup d’état which toppled former leader Bazoum.
Conflicting responses
In retaliation to the coup, the EU halted its support for security and migration projects in the country. Speaking to Euronews, Emanuela Del Re, EU Special Representative for the Sahel, said: “We were obligated to suspend all activities because of the coup d’état.”
“We have been supporting the action of the Ecowas (the Economic Community of West African States), which has imposed sanctions on the junta in power at the moment, because we wanted to send a very important sign that unconstitutional changes in the countries of the Sahel are absolutely unacceptable.”
The EU’s actions haven’t come without consequence – leading to the revoking of the aforementioned anti-trafficking law by the junta.
The EU said it regretted the junta’s decision, warning it could lead to an increase in migratory flows to Europe.
Javier Nart, MEP for Renew Europe, told Euronews: “It [the junta’s repealment] is indeed a response to the end of the aid. But we cannot maintain an economic aid for a military junta.”
However, for many of Niger’s residents, the decriminalisation of the migrant-smuggling trade could benefit the local economy: many make their living by transporting migrants.
“Locally, it is considered an ancestral way to live, to trade, to exchange. Population displacement, particularly in the Sahel itself or to northern regions, is considered part of a way of life,” said Niagalé Bagayoko, President African Security Secteur Network.
For the EU, one of the biggest fears is that without the law in place, human trafficking networks could expand in the region.
The report also identifies Vietnam as a priority country on the watchlist.
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has publicly praised soldiers who killed themselves rather than be captured while fighting Ukrainian forces in Kursk region, offering the clearest confirmation yet of what officials and intelligence agencies have long described as one of Pyongyang’s most extreme battlefield policies.
In remarks published Monday by North Korean state media KCNA and first reported by Reuters, Kim honored troops who “unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide” rather than surrender, as he addressed Russian officials and bereaved families during a memorial ceremony for North Korean soldiers killed in combat.
“It is not only the heroes who unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide to defend great honor, but also those who fell while charging at the forefront of assault battles,” Kim said.
The comments mark the first time Kim has directly acknowledged the lengths North Korean troops fighting for Russia have gone to in attempts to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces.
BATTERED IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA RACES TO REARM — BUT QUESTIONS LINGER OVER ITS MILITARY STRENGTH
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a photo session with officers and soldiers who participated in the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army in North Korea on April 27, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service)
North Korea deployed an estimated 14,000 troops to Russia’s western Kursk region to support Moscow’s war effort, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials cited by Reuters. Those same officials say the forces suffered staggering losses, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers believed killed in some of the war’s most intense fighting.
For months, intelligence reports, battlefield evidence and defector testimony have pointed to a grim directive: North Korean troops were expected to detonate grenades or otherwise take their own lives rather than risk capture.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via REUTERS)
That policy appears to have extended even to the few who survived. According to The Guardian, two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces and now held as prisoners of war in Kyiv both reportedly attempted to blow themselves up but were unable to do so because of severe injuries. One of the captured soldiers has reportedly expressed guilt over failing to carry out those orders.
NORTH KOREA VOWS ‘TOUGHEST’ US POLICY IN VAGUE ANNOUNCEMENT
North Korean troops train with Russian instructors to clear mines in the heavily contaminated Kursk region, according to Russian Defense Ministry footage. (East to West News Agency)
Kim’s latest speech appears to transform those reports from battlefield allegations into publicly praised state doctrine.
“Those who writhed in frustration at failing to fulfill their duty as soldiers rather than suffering the agony of their bodies being torn apart by bullets and shells — these too can be called the party’s loyal warriors and patriots,” Kim added.
The statement underscores the ideological intensity imposed on North Korean forces, whose loyalty to the regime appears to extend beyond combat to self-destruction.
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North Korean troops sweep minefields left behind in the Kursk region after months of fighting. (East to West News Agency)
The revelation also highlights the deepening military relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow.
According to South Korean intelligence assessments, North Korea has provided not only troops but also munitions to Russia, while receiving economic aid and military technology in return.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Published on
A 33-year-old man will appear in court next week after he was detained on suspicion of plotting an attack on two Dutch princesses, prosecutors said on Friday.
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According to details in a court scheduling order published on the website of The Hague Public Prosecutor’s Office, the man is suspected of preparing an attack on the 22-year-old heir to the Dutch throne, Princess Amalia, and her 20-year-old sister, Princess Alexia, in The Hague in February.
“The suspect was allegedly in possession of two axes in early February with the words ‘Alexia,’ ‘Mossad’ and ‘Sieg Heil’ carved into them, and he allegedly had a handwritten sheet with the words ‘Amalia,’ ‘Alexia’ and ‘Bloodbath,’” the scheduling order said.
A spokesman for The Hague public prosecutor’s office declined to provide further details on the case ahead of Monday’s procedural hearing.
It was not clear where or when the man was arrested. The suspect’s name was not released, in line with Dutch privacy regulations.
The Royal House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Princess Amalia has faced threats before. The heir to the Dutch throne was forced in 2022 to give up Amsterdam’s student life and live at her parents’ palace due to threats believed to come from the criminal underworld.
Queen Maxima said at the time that Amalia “can’t leave home” and that it has “enormous consequences for her life.”
The eldest of the three Dutch princesses subsequently spent several months living in Madrid and later honoured the Spanish capital and its citizens for their hospitality by opening a tulip garden there.
In 2020, a man was convicted of threatening the princess and of sending threats via Instagram to the then-16-year-old Amalia and one of her friends.
Additional sources • AP
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