Day: December 4, 2022

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West African Leaders Plan Peacekeeping Force to Counter ‘Coup Belt’ Reputation

West African leaders said on Sunday they would establish a regional peacekeeping force to intervene in member states to help restore security and constitutional order in a region that has witnessed several coups in the past two years.

West and Central Africa has made strides in the past decade to shed its reputation as a “coup belt,” but the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) wants to do more to boost constitutional government in its member states.

“The leaders of ECOWAS have decided to recalibrate our security architecture to ensure that we take care of our own security in the region,” the leaders said in a communique after an annual summit in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

“The leaders are determined to establish a regional force that will intervene in the event of need, whether this is in the area of security, terrorism (or to) … restore constitutional order in member countries.”

ECOWAS did not give any details of how the force would be constituted but said defense chiefs would meet next month to work out how it would operate.

The ECOWAS leaders also expressed concern over the continued detention of 46 Ivorian soldiers in Mali. They asked Malian authorities to release the soldiers by the end of this month.

If the soldiers were not released, ECOWAS leaders “reserve the right and they have taken the decision to take certain measures, but they would appeal and call on the authorities of Mali to release the soldiers.”

On Guinea, the leaders said the military authorities should immediately have an inclusive dialog with all the parties and politicians, and also expressed serious concern about the security situation in Burkina Faso, which had a coup in October.

Source: Voice of America

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Migrant Workers Aim to Stay in Qatar Far Beyond World Cup Final

Senegal’s loss to England on Sunday saw Africa’s hopes of lifting the trophy in Qatar recede even further but the migrant workers watching the game at a specially built fan zone were still hoping for the biggest prize of all — work beyond the World Cup.

Senegal’s 3-0 defeat at the Al Bayt Stadium means Morocco are the continent’s only sporting representatives remaining in the tournament but in Asian Town, about 60 km away, some African fans were already looking beyond the final.

“The ones who came just for the World Cup will definitely go back after the World Cup, but I still have my future here because I still have work to do,” Ugandan Wambaka Isaac told Reuters.

“We’ll go doing cleaning work, offices, everywhere (there’s) a lot of work, and of course the building keeps on going,” he added.

Proudly wearing the shirt of his national team, Isaac was one of thousands of migrant workers who made their way to the fan zone after sundown to watch Sunday’s last-16 tie between France and Poland before England and Senegal took center stage.

Qatar has come in for intense criticism from human rights groups about the treatment of its migrant workers, who together with other foreigners make up a majority of the population.

“It’s complicated,” said a young traffic marshal from Kenya, who declined to give his name, when asked whether he would be able to stay on after the final.

“I worked in construction on the Lusail Stadium, the Al Thumama (stadium). I worked for a contractor, so you go wherever they send you. We’re marshals today; next week we might be in construction again,” he explained.

“We worked in the summer when it was very hot, long days, very hot. I was very tired all the time.”

No work at home

For Rahim, a ride-share driver from Bangladesh, his three-and-a-half years in Qatar have been tough but there is no work in his home village so he feels he has no choice but to stay on.

“I work every day, seven days a week. First I have to pay a company for the car; it’s not mine. Then I have to pay for my food and my rent, and what is left I send to my family,” Rahim said.

“During the pandemic there was no work so we lived on nothing. I’m trying to save up to go home; I haven’t seen my family in three-and-a-half years (but) if I go home there is no work so I have to have even more money.”

Rahim said he would like to bring his wife and daughter to live with him in Qatar but that he did not make enough money to be able to do so, so they remained in Bangladesh.

The FIFA fan zone in Asian Town, close to where many of the migrant workers have their living quarters, is one of the few public places in Doha showing World Cup games on big outdoor screens.

Most evenings the men come out to sit on the grass or in the bleachers at the cricket stadium, where the fan zone has been built, to watch, but with an early start in the morning, many head home to bed before the final whistle.

Many of the workers are dependent on their employers to be allowed to stay in Qatar and the goal is to ensure that they can stay in a job.

Jonathan, another Ugandan, is not really a fan of his job as a mechanic and would prefer to get an education, but he is aiming to be here long after the final.

Source: Voice of America