Brussels; 04/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Union should step up its support to the Sahel in order to help the countries of the region fight against the terrorists and criminals who are taking advantage of the proliferation of arms after the Libyan conflict - so believe the MEPs and elected representatives of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries in a resolution adopted on 30 May in Horsens by the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly.
“The consequences of the Libyan conflict have nowhere been more disastrous than in Mali” torn in two after the coup d'état in March, with independence having been proclaimed by the Touareg rebellion in the North and the country being marked by the presence of a group of international terrorists, AQMI, underlined Louis Michel, the co-president of the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly, who is convinced that the implosion of Mali would have disastrous consequences on neighbouring countries. A “domino effect” would also hit Niger, Mauritania and Senegal as well as Algeria, Burkina Faso and even Libya, he warned.
Drawn up by David Casa (EPP, Malta) and Assarid Imbarcouane (vice-president of the national assembly of Mali), the resolution urges the EU to mobilise urgently the humanitarian assistance needed in the north of Mali. MEPs and ACP members of parliament are of the opinion that in order to guarantee the security and democratic prospects of the Sahel region, the EU should step up its support to the region in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, which are taking advantage of the proliferation of arms following the Libyan conflict. Particular attention should be paid to the situation of women, refugees and migrants, underlines the resolution. (AN/transl.fl)