It is a delicate operation that has just begun. “Given the situation in Niamey, the violence that took place against our embassy the day before yesterday [Sunday July 30] and the closure of airspace, which leaves our compatriots without the possibility of leaving the country by their own means , France is preparing the evacuation of its nationals and European nationals who wish to leave the country,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The evacuation is indeed underway”, confirms to World Michèle Peyron, Renaissance deputy (Seine-et-Marne) and president of the France-Niger group in the National Assembly. Six days after the coup against President Mohamed Bazoum, Wednesday July 26, the first plane should take off from Niamey around 4 p.m. Paris time.
According to the Quai d’Orsay, there were around 1,200 French nationals present in Niger in 2022. “As we are during school holidays, many have returned to France,” said Michèle Peyron. They would currently be around 600 on Nigerien territory. The French soldiers must evacuate those who want it with the Nigerien army, and more precisely with the national guard. This must secure the convoys from the rallying point to the airport. »
The total evacuation of French nationals should take several days. “The internal connections being closed, those who do not live in the capital must go there and it can be long, observes Michèle Peyron. To go from Agadez to Niamey by road, it takes a day. The French authorities did not want to specify what will be the immediate future of the approximately 1,500 soldiers deployed in the country. Paris had made Niger the heart of its military system in the Sahel.
According to AFP, small personnel transport planes, similar to airliners but belonging to the army, should be favored over planes usually used for transporting troops, such as the A400M.
Germany on Tuesday recommended “all its nationals in Niamey to accept the offer” from France to evacuate them. According to the German Foreign Ministry, less than 100 German nationals – who work neither for the embassy nor for the army – are in the country. The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, also indicated that the German embassy in Niamey “would continue its work”. For his part, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that he had chartered a special plane for his nationals wishing to leave Niger.
“We’ve been preparing for a while”
According to Michèle Peyron, the evacuations of Westerners began “calmly”. “The nationals are not worried,” confirms Sophie Lassan, president of the Nigerien section of the Democratic Association of French Abroad (ADFE) and teacher at the French high school La Fontaine in Niamey: “The security situation has been tense for a long time. in Niger, we have been preparing for this situation for some time. »
Some of the French present in Niger work for industry flagships such as Veolia, Air France and Orano (ex-Areva). The latter concentrates the bulk of French economic interests in the country and has stakes alongside the Nigerien state in three uranium mines in the north. A dozen employees could be affected by this hasty departure. “Operational activities are continuing. The presence of expatriates does not condition the continuity of activities, “explains the group’s spokesperson, recalling that 99% of employees are Nigeriens.
The departure of French nationals should not have an immediate impact on France’s energy supply. Only one of the three uranium mines operated by Orano, Société des mines de l’Aïr (Somaïr), is in production. Its yields are declining, the mine being at the end of its life, even if the group tries to extend its exploitation. It only covers about 10% of the needs of French nuclear power plants.
“The situation in Niger presents no risk to the security of France’s supply of natural uranium,” says the Ministry of Energy Transition. “After questions about the continuity of natural uranium supplies from Russia and the two countries under its influence, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the crisis in Niger is yet another reminder of the flaws in the myth of energy independence by nuclear,” remarks Mycle Schneider, independent international expert in energy and nuclear policies.
The ECOWAS ultimatum
This evacuation comes after the coup against Mohamed Bazoum. The deposed head of state is still sequestered in his presidential residence by the men of General Tiani, former head of the presidential guard, who took over as head of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP).
This sixth military putsch in three years in West Africa is causing serious concern in the region. It was severely condemned by the West (France, European Union and United States, which had made Niger a key ally in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel), by the UN, by the African Union (AU) and by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). On Sunday, leaders in the sub-region gave the putschists a one-week ultimatum for a “full return to constitutional order”. They do not rule out “the use of force”, i.e. a regional military operation, to dislodge the putschists.
Since the coup, France, a former colonial power, has been in the crosshairs of the junta. Thousands of people who had gathered on Sunday to welcome the takeover of the military demonstrated in front of the French embassy before being dispersed. The next day, in a press release, the putschists claimed that France was seeking to “intervene militarily” in order to restore Mohamed Bazoum to his functions, which the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, formally denied on Monday on BFM TV.
“All the usual ingredients for destabilization in the Russian-African way” are present in Niger, said the head of French diplomacy, as Russian flags and calls for a new partnership with Russia appeared in the demonstration which was held in Niamey. Mali and Burkina Faso, partners of Moscow in the sub-region after demanding the departure of French troops from their country, have warned that a military operation against Niger “would be a declaration of war” against them, reinforcing the fears of a regional conflagration.
“Nigerians are not anti-French, assures Sophie Lassan. This is a manipulation of the crowd and not a spontaneous mobilization. Expatriates know that on a daily basis, there is never any altercation with Nigeriens. “In Niamey, I’ve never had a problem,” adds Alain Volet, retired from national education and president of the charity FR’Entraide, based in Niamey: “Here, I have a big family and I know that Nigeriens hope for peace… We, the French in Niger, will always manage, but it is for Nigeriens that I am very sad. »