The UK's response to extremism and instability in North and West Africa : seventh report of session 2013-14.
Great Britain.Parliament.House of Commons.Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ottaway, Richard,Sir.
Stationery Office (Great Britain)
London : The Stationery Office,
2014.
There is a stark mismatch between the UK Government's vision of economic, political and security engagement in Africa's Western Sahel-Sahara region and the very light diplomatic footprint it actually has on the ground. The Committee is concerned at the degree to which the UK and its Western partners appear to have been caught out by recent crises in Mali, Libya, the Central African Republic and elsewhere. In Africa's Western Sahel-Sahara region jihadists have put down roots in remote and marginalised areas, capitalising on economic misery, weak state security and popular anger with corrupt governing elites. Concerted international action is needed to address the root causes of instability and prevent the contagion of extremism from spreading further. There is also concern that the EU does not yet have a clear policy on how it proposes to deal with this trend A powerful threat from extremism remains throughout the region with no sign yet that African countries would be able to deal with future crises on their own. The UK should be looking to help build indigenous security capacity - the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan provides an opportunity to increase the number of British military training missions in the region. The UK Government also faces a dilemma in determining how much to assist the Nigerian military to defeat Boko Haram, in view of well-documented concerns about its human rights record, but it needs to do as much as it can that is consistent with the UK's human rights values.
Documents included: Additional written evidence.
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HC 86-II.
"Session 2013-14".
Chair: Rt Hon Sir Richard Ottaway.
"Ordered  by the House of Commons to be printed 11 March 2014".
"Published on 21 March 2014".
There is a stark mismatch between the UK Government's vision of economic, political and security engagement in Africa's Western Sahel-Sahara region and the very light diplomatic footprint it actually has on the ground. The Committee is concerned at the degree to which the UK and its Western partners appear to have been caught out by recent crises in Mali, Libya, the Central African Republic and elsewhere. In Africa's Western Sahel-Sahara region jihadists have put down roots in remote and marginalised areas, capitalising on economic misery, weak state security and popular anger with corrupt governing elites. Concerted international action is needed to address the root causes of instability and prevent the contagion of extremism from spreading further. There is also concern that the EU does not yet have a clear policy on how it proposes to deal with this trend A powerful threat from extremism remains throughout the region with no sign yet that African countries would be able to deal with future crises on their own. The UK should be looking to help build indigenous security capacity - the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan provides an opportunity to increase the number of British military training missions in the region. The UK Government also faces a dilemma in determining how much to assist the Nigerian military to defeat Boko Haram, in view of well-documented concerns about its human rights record, but it needs to do as much as it can that is consistent with the UK's human rights values.