Paper details

Paper authors	Milena Berks
In panel on	Working in the Sahel
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

The increasingly prevalent phenomenon of outsourcing State security functions to local vigilante groups in the Sahel and other parts of Africa has shown major implications for local security settings, humanitarian action, and the protection of civilians. While often seen as the only, or at least more efficient, option for protection in areas plagued by terrorist attacks, such as the Northeast of Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, local communities embark on a dangerous journey of the lesser evil in the Sahel. Establishing more and more complex layers of organization and structure, vigilante groups become de-facto regimes claiming authority and imposing their rule in vast areas under their control. While initially thought to be more effective in protecting civilians in the most remote areas, vigilante groups turn more and more into a hazard for the safety of communities and humanitarians interacting with them by representing direct targets for armed terrorist attacks. The analysis explores and compares the impacts of this phenomenon in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso.

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