Dimitri Vernet and Mayalène Tremolet // Photo credit: Handout / General Staff of the Armed Forces / AFP
While the evacuation of the French in Niger continues, behind the scenes, the organization of this operation continues. For the occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs convened a crisis cell on Tuesday. About twenty people are mobilized. But how is a crisis unit organized? Europe 1 takes stock.
French nationals expatriated in Niger began to be repatriated last night. Paris chartered four planes to pick up around 600 French people in Niamey who wanted to leave the African country after last week’s coup. The operation should be completed by midday and was carried out with the utmost discretion by the French police. For the occasion, the Quai d’Orsay brought together a crisis unit on Tuesday. But what exactly does this mean? Europe 1 takes stock.
The crisis unit is used to respond to a specific crisis situation at the Quai d’Orsay. Calls are then made to the CDCS, the Crisis and Support Centre, a group specializing in emergency interventions which allows rapid results.
A cell that will last as long as needed
To achieve this, around twenty agents are mobilized with a mission: to protect French nationals in Niger. The idea is to centralize the actions to be carried out in an emergency, share information, assess the risks and their evolution, coordinate emergency and rescue management.
Since Sunday, this cell has been meeting several times a day with the ministers and departments concerned, such as Sébastien Lecornu, Minister for the Armed Forces, or even Catherine Colonna, Minister for Foreign Affairs. The government, for its part, ensures that the crisis unit will be mobilized as long as necessary.