260 French on board
First evacuation flight leaves Niger
8/1/2023 9:36 p.m
Relations between France and Niger have been strained since the coup. Now Paris is starting to evacuate French citizens from the African country. The French justify the rapid action with the closure of Niger’s airspace.
Barely a week after the military coup in Niger, France began evacuating its citizens from the West African country. A first evacuation flight took off from Niamey with more than 260 people on board, including 12 babies, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Twitter. There was no information as to whether people from other EU countries were on board the machine to France.
According to information from the French General Staff, another plane should fly to France that night. A third aircraft should also be able to be used for the evacuation. France had offered to evacuate people from other European countries from Niger. The Foreign Office in Berlin had said it was advising Germans in Niger to accept the offer.
According to the ministry, around 500 to 600 French people had previously been in Niger. French soldiers are also stationed in the country. Paris also justified the evacuation with the closure of airspace in Niger. This does not give its own citizens the opportunity to leave the country themselves. In addition, there were pro-coup protests in the Nigerien capital Niamey over the weekend. Demonstrators also reportedly gathered in front of the French embassy. Some are said to have torn down the embassy plaque, trampled it and replaced it with Nigerien and Russian flags. Paris condemned the violence.
France does not recognize new rulers
Niger’s new military junta accused France of planning military intervention in the country. On Wednesday last week, officers from General Omar Tchiani’s elite unit arrested the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and declared him ousted. Tchiani proclaimed himself the new ruler on Friday. Shortly after taking power, the putschists suspended the West African country’s constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.
France does not recognize the new rulers and is demanding a return to the constitutional order around President Bazoum. The former colonial power France has stationed around 2,500 soldiers in Niger and in neighboring Chad. For Paris, Niger was one of the last local partners in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. The country is also important for France because of its uranium deposits.