The Malian junta declared Monday night that it will outlaw all French-funded or -supported non-governmental groups, including those engaged in humanitarian work.
Many NGOs that France has supported despite the rapid deterioration in relations between the two nations for more than a year are likely to be impacted by this move.
In a statement shared on social media, the acting prime minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, cited France’s recent announcement that it had discontinued its formal development support to Mali as justification for the choice.
The use of the Russian paramilitary force Wagner by Malian authorities was mentioned by the French Foreign Ministry.
The junta, which took control of the country by force in August 2020, has often denied using this corporation, whose acts have drawn criticism from other nations. It mentions the deployment of Russian army instructors under the guise of an earlier partnership between the two nations.
France was required by the Quai d’Orsay to continue providing “humanitarian aid” and some support to Malian civil society organisations.
In his statement, Colonel Maiga criticized “fanciful claims” as well as a “subterfuge meant to deceive and manipulate national and international public opinion with the objective of destabilizing and isolating Mali.
“As a result, the transitional government has decided to ban, with immediate effect, all activities carried out by NGOs operating in Mali with funding or with material or technical support from France, including in the humanitarian field,” it said.
In Mali, there are numerous NGOs working in the areas of food, health, and education. Since 2012, the poor, landlocked nation has experienced not only the spread of jihadism and other forms of violence, but also a dire political and humanitarian crisis. The fighting has caused hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced.
The colonels have turned away from France, which was driven out and whose last soldier left the nation in August after nine years of combat against the jihadists alongside the Malian army, since May 2021 and a second coup d’état that solidified their hold. The colonels have turned to Moscow diplomatically and militarily.
Concern was raised over France’s suspension by a number of NGOs, including CCFD Terre-Solidaire, Handicap International, Médecins du Monde, and Oxfam.
These NGOs, who received a significant portion of this funding, expressed their concern to President Emmanuel Macron in a letter that the cessation of this funding would result in “the cessation of essential, even vital activities (…) for the benefit of populations in situations of great fragility or poverty.”
They noted that Mali was placed 184th on the Human Development Index and that 7.5 million Malians, or “more than 35% of the population,” needed aid.
