The French army is reluctantly withdrawing further and further from the Sahel. Anti-French sentiment is also on the rise in Chad, the last partner of France in the region. “They support a dictatorial regime that kills its own people.”
New work for The Guardian: Darfur’s victims struggle on in a Chad refugee camp
More than 420,000 people have fled across the border as attacks by militias in West Darfur continue. Another 200,000 people are expected to follow. Yet, says one refugee, ‘the international community does nothing’.
To see the 20 pictures and read the stories of Darfuri refugees, click here.
New work for The Economist: a photo from Eastern Chad
One of the photos I recently took in eastern Chad is in this week's edition of The Economist.
Their correspondent, Kinley Salmon, also traveled to the camps on the border with Darfur, where Sudanese refugees tell horrific stories of rape and murder.
His report can also be read online, by clicking on this link.
Ethnic violence has returned to Darfur
Executions of tied up young men, children murdered with axes and mass attacks on groups of fleeing civilians - these are just some of the terrible stories that Darfuris refugees told us in eastern Chad.
Hundreds of thousands have crossed the border in recent months. The vast majority of people moved to the camp that emerged next to Adré, a sleepy border village that has since been transformed into a gigantic humanitarian hub.
But the humanitarian support in the camp is still inadequate: the rest of the world is busy with other crises, the situation in Adré is dire. Although malnourished children are helped to regain their strength, they run the risk of becoming malnourished again when they are discharged from the clinic. There is simply not enough of everything in the camp.
Our report on the violence in Darfur, which is strongly reminiscent of the ethnic cleansing of 20 years ago, is on the front page of the Volkskrant today, with beautiful images by photographer Sven Torfinn.
The memory of the brutal dictatorship in Gambia is slowly coming to the surface
The Gambia was at the mercy of dictator Jammeh for more than twenty years. Only now, years after his flight, the painful stories arevgiven a place in memorial centers and schools. But it remains difficult to talk about him. And few have hope of his prosecution.
Read the reportage from The Gambia here.
Fas Boye, the close-knit community where the Senegal migrant boat disaster hits home
A wooden boat with more than 100 people on board drifted at sea for more than a month. 38 men, women and children were rescued, at least 60 people died from hunger and thirst. Almost all those on board came from the Senegalese fishing village of Fass Boye. “Everyone here knows someone who was on that boat.”
“One of the survivors said he saw my son in the hospital,” says Arona Boye. He is convinced that his son Pape is still alive, he does not want to hear any condolences. Half an hour later the bad news arrives: Pape's body has been found.
The boat was supposed to go to the Canary Islands, but got into trouble. Maryam's son also did not survive the journey. She fights back tears. “Allah has sent him to help his parents, so all we have to do is remain patient and gentle.”
Ibrahim Sarr's phone is full of messages. Photos and videos show the men, women and children who survived the shipwreck. His son is one of them. “Allah gives and takes,” he says, “but that does not mean that this disaster could have been prevented.”
Despite warnings from the community, Senegalese authorities did not search for the missing boat. If they had, those on board might still have been alive. The sadness and powerlessness turned into anger on Wednesday evening: government buildings were destroyed.
On the beach of Fass Boye there are hundreds of 'pirogues' like the one that left on July 10. 'España!' shout the boys hanging around the boats. Due to overfishing there are fewer and fewer fish in the sea, but men and women continue to leave to earn money for their families.
Meanwhile, the village's 'chef de village' is working overtime. “This is the fate of Fass Boye,” he says. “There is nothing left for us but to pray.”
The entire report that I wrote in Fass Boye is published in today’s Volkskrant (and here online).
Do the people from Niger support the coup d'etat?
The Nigerien junta refuses to talk to representatives of ECOWAS, which means that a possible military intervention by that regional partnership is getting closer.
How do people in Niger respond to this ever-increasing tension?
2 pages about the coup in Niger
Two pages in De Volkskrant about the rising tensions in the Sahel. Regional bloc ECOWAS is threatening military intervention in Niger, but how realistic is it that they will unleash a war (with or without support from France)?
With insights from Ulf Laessing & Nathaniel Powell: my story.
Back to Gambia, as Germany wants in new deal? There, scorn awaits the 'failed' migrant
A migration deal that goes further than just stopping migrants – if it were up to the German government, this would be the aim of an agreement that they want to conclude with the government of the West African Gambia.
The Germans want to prevent migrant workers from doing business with human smugglers, who bring them to Europe via often life-threatening routes. Moreover, Germany has a labor shortage – so a migration deal could be a win-win situation.
'Legal migration' is the key, says a recently appointed 'representative for migration agreements' in Berlin. His plan for a Gambia deal, which comes from the man who also devised the Turkey deal, seems simple: Germany gives more work visas to Gambian migrants and sends new 'irregular' migrants straight back to Banjul.
However, that is exactly where the problem lies, I heard in Gambia: many Gambians do not want those 'failed migrants' to be sent back at all, and are putting pressure on the government to stop returnees. I have written down what is behind this in this report for the Volkskrant.
With the collaboration of Kebba Ansu Manneh and photos by Guy Peterson.
Hooray, Léa is here!
Birth announcement card by Philip Hopman.
Concerns about fleeing Sudanese are increasing, including among their compatriots in Egypt
In Egypt, the huge Sudanese population hosts hundreds of thousands of fleeing compatriots. Out of charity, but also out of self-preservation. I wrote down how that works for the Volkskrant.
Sudanese flee to Egypt: "a journey from hell"
After a "journey from hell", tens of thousands of Sudanese are trying to cross the border with Egypt. Women and children do not need a visa, but most men do. For the Volkskrant I traveled to the south of Egypt, where I spoke with torn families who are looking for safety.
The report, with beautiful photos by Rene Clement, is in the paper newspaper today, and online here.
Anti-French sentiments are on the rise in Senegal, and the supermarché is the largest victim
Saucisson, French mustard-flavored chips, six types of Camembert – even the rolls of toilet paper in the Auchan supermarket come from France. That is striking, because this Auchan hypermarché is not on the edge of a French suburb, but in the middle of a residential area of Dakar, the city where my family and I settled a few weeks ago.
Although it is estimated that more than 25 thousand French people live in Senegal, the French supermarket does not only serve the French community: the lion's share of the customers we encounter in the Casino, Auchan and Carrefour supermarkets are Senegalese. The number of Senegalese (from the richer middle and upper class) coming to the Auchan has even increased considerably in recent years, since that big grocer unleashed a price war a few years ago.
The fact that there are so many supermarkets that almost exclusively sell French products says a lot about the close ties that Senegal still has with its former colonizer. Many Senegalese have adopted French eating habits, as I saw when I recently made my first report on baguettes here. More than 8 million typical French baguettes are eaten in Senegal every day, even though the wheat used for the breads cannot grow anywhere in Senegal.
For the story about the baguettes, I spoke to an entrepreneur who wants to get rid of French dependence, a sentiment that more Senegalese companies are responding to. While imported French products often show exactly which region in France they come from, even displaying a proud French flag, there are now more and more companies that consciously profile themselves as a 'Senegalese brand'.
About how those Senegalese brands market themselves, the growing anti-French sentiment in Senegal and its neighboring countries and what French companies (which together are responsible for a quarter of Senegalese GDP) like Auchan are trying to turn the tide , you can read in this column that I wrote for de Volkskrant here.