Category: News February 2023

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A “Dangerous Link”: Climate-Fuelled Violence in the Lake Chad Basin

Lake Chad in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State

1 March 2023 – by Cosmo Sanderson

A new report has found climate change is fuelling violence that has led to the displacement of over 5 million people in the Lake Chad Basin, calling for action that recognises the “dangerous link” between the issues. 

Refugees International released a report in January arguing that the influence of climate change on conflict and displacement in the basin has been “ignored for too long”. 

Governments and agencies need to “move beyond” an approach that focuses only on regional security, according to the US-based NGO. “That approach not only misses the worsening impacts of climate change and displacement but overlooks how they fuel insecurity.”

The Lake Chad Basin serves as an important source of freshwater and fish as well as a trading hub for the four countries that share its shores: Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.  

However for the last 13 years the region around the lake in all four countries has been ravaged by conflict and violence. The UN estimates that 24 million people are now affected by the crisis, with around 5.3 million displaced. 

In its report, Refugees International says the crisis and displacement caused are often “viewed through the lens of regional security” – including attacks by Islamist groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria. 

But the report argues that the uptick in conflict and displacement has been fuelled by increased competition for land, water and food as a result of global warming.  

A “prime example” of this came in Cameroon in 2021, when climate-driven scarcity triggered tensions between fishing, farming and herding communities – resulting in an “eruption of violence”. Around 60,000 Cameroonians sought refuge in neighbouring Chad as a result. 

The report called for a then-upcoming summit on the Lake Chad Basin, which took place last month, to “address the nexus of climate change, violence and displacement” as part of its plan for stabilising the region. 

Speaking at the conference, Niger’s foreign minister Hassoumi Massoudou acknowledged that action taken so far seems “very far from the reality” of the needs of those being exposed to the “cumulative effects of insecurity and climate change.”

Over US$500 million in aid was pledged at the conference, although this sum is far short of the estimated US$1.8 billion the UN has said is required. 

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Winter Earthquake Poses Distinct Challenges in Relief Efforts Throughout Turkey and Syria 

There is nothing left in this place

8 February 2023 – by Willy Phillips

*As this is an ongoing story, another piece will be posted in the following week with updated information

Vulnerable buildings, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and complicated relief efforts put millions at risk following the disaster in Syria and Turkey.

In the early hours of Monday, February 6th, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit southern/central Turkey and northern Syria, marking the region’s largest seismic event in over a century. By nightfall, destruction hung heavily over the region as a 7.5 magnitude aftershock struck. The epicenter appeared near Nurdagi city in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. As of February 8th, over 12,000 individuals have been pronounced dead. The geography of the region, combined with the lack of earthquake-proof infrastructure, has resulted in a devastating 72 hours.

Understanding “why” this event occurred requires knowledge of the tectonic plates below the impacted countries. Briefly, much of southern Turkey sits atop the Anatolian plate, and Syria atop the Arabian plate. The movement and collision of these plates within the Earth’s crust causes an energy build-up, eventually releasing seismic wave energy. These seismic waves are responsible for destroying roads, buildings, and livelihoods on the Earth’s surface over 17 km above. As roads collapse and building rubble grows, rescue operations struggle to provide life-saving relief.

Relief efforts have come under pressure in the last day. In addition to being overwhelmed by potential rescue efforts and severe fuel shortages, below-freezing temperatures have heightened anxieties around sites with possible survivors. Turkish President Tayyip Ergodan has entrusted over 20,000 soldiers and rescue personnel with relief efforts, but the damage has thus far outpaced their abilities. Moreover, an alleged focus on the ‘lives of the living’ has caused tensions between rescue workers and those who have lost loved ones in indiscriminate piles of rubble. Reportedly, efforts have since picked up in the hardest hit areas, but much work is still to be done.

The conflict between Syria and Turkey has further complicated relief provision as the two governments have yet to discuss cooperative solutions for aid. Additionally, a former advisor to the Syrian president, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, called out international relief efforts from the west. She stated, “It’s not humanity. It’s politics” when discussing contributions from the US and EU. While it is difficult to understand the nuances present, there is a certainty in that many people are still without essential resources. The charity Save the Children has been a significant player on the ground and has called for heightened international assistance, urging that “the window to get shelter, medical supplies, water and food to the worst affected areas…. is rapidly closing.”