January 26, 2022 – Page 2 – Djibouti News Gazette

January 26, 2022

Nigerian president optimistic about Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

ABUJA— Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his optimism that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be a success.

“With China’s rich experience in organizing international events, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with the slogan ‘Together For A Shared Future,’ will be delivered as a splendid, exceptional, and extraordinary Olympic event for the world,” Buhari said in a statement released by the State House.

In the statement, the Nigerian leader lauded Beijing for making history as the first “dual Olympic city” in the world’s Olympic history, after having hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

“As a friendly and brotherly country to Nigeria, President Buhari affirms the support of the Nigerian government and its people to China,” said the statement, recognizing that the Olympic Games is a platform for closer friendship and cooperation between countries.

He expected Nigerian athletes participating in different events will excel at the competition, surpassing the previous record in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018, when the nation competed for the first time.

Buhari said he hoped that all athletes, in the pursuit of their Olympic dream, would promote the core values of the Games which are excellence, friendship, and respect.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

January 26, 2022

African Union chair Tshisekedi demands release of ousted Burkinabe leader

KINSHASA–The African Union has denounced the coup d’état in Burkina Faso and demanded the release of detained President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Chairman of the continental bloc, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Kabore was illegally arrested and he should be freed without condition.

Tshisekedi called on “Ecowas, (the west African bloc), the African Union and the international community to work together for a peaceful and non-violent solution to the political crisis in Burkina Faso.”

Kabore, first elected in 2015 and later re-elected in 2020 on a promise to prioritise the fight against insurgency, has faced growing public anger at the state’s failure to stop the bloodshed.

On Sunday, January 23, he was arrested and detained by the junta under the banner of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration.

The Burkinabe leader came to office following the ouster of Blaise Compaoré, who is now accused of being behind the assassination of the country’s transformative leader Thomas Sankara in October 1987.

The intensity and frequency of jihadist attacks on Burkinabe soil have increased over the years, placing Kabore’s leadership in sharp focus.

The junta said they will “put the country back on the right track” and “fight for territorial integrity.”

They shut all land borders and suspended the constitution, even though they promised to shortly oversee a transition back to civilian rule.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

January 26, 2022

IOM Djibouti – DTM Migration Trends Dashboard (December 2021)

In December 2021, 9,692 movements were observed at Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) in Djibouti, representing a daily average of 313 movements. Migration flows remained relatively stable (-2%) compared to the month of November 2021, during which an average of 321 movements had been registered daily. It is worth highlighting that migration flows have not yet reached pre-COVID-19 levels (between March 2019 and March 2020, the daily average was 621). Of these 9,692 movements, 1,911 (20%) were observed in Obock. This coastal region of Djibouti is the main gateway for migrants going to and returning from the Arabian Peninsula. Migrants regroup at congregation points in the Obock region where they then cross the Gulf of Aden on boats.

From January to June 2020, the number of entries observed from Djibouti’s western borders decreased by 99 per cent due to the closure of Ethiopian borders. Since Djibouti and Ethiopia resumed land services in July 2020, the number of entries from Ethiopia has increased sharply. They went from 1,307 movements in July 2020 to 5,311 in December 2021. In addition, 16,641 Ethiopian nationals have returned from Yemen since May 2020. Between May 2020 and July 2021, the number of spontaneous returns from Yemen has been multiplied by nine, from 109 to 950. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these movements were mainly due to mobility restrictions imposed in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, the progressive deterioration of living conditions in Yemen also triggered growing numbers of spontaneous returns, which continue to this day.

However, since August 2021, the average daily number of returns from Yemen has been declining, reaching its lowest level in December 2021 (178 movements).

Source: International Organization for Migration