Climate Change, Hunger, and Terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin
The European refugee crisis illustrates that regional instability can have far-flung implications. The transit of refugees and economic migrants from the MENA regionand elsewhere has certainly been the source of political turmoil in Europe, raising both humanitarian and security concerns. Yet while Brussels and its allies have been dealing with fallout from the latest EU migrant crisis, another humanitarian disaster has been unfolding in the Lake Chad Basin in West Africa.
The Lake Chad Basin is centered around the rapidly shrinking Lake Chad, and the area is home to some 30 million people across four countries. Food insecurity is already commonplace, and it’s predicted to worsen as water levels continue to drop due to climate change. This instability has been a major factor in the rise of Boko Haram, the infamous terrorist outfit that has been engaged in a violent insurgency since 2009. Fleeing violence and hunger, large numbers of civilians caught up in the crisis have been displaced, further adding to the region’s instability. Without significant assistance from the international community, the crisis will certainly worsen.
Considered one of the most violent terrorist groups in the world, Boko Haram has claimed at least 20,000 lives in West Africa since their insurgency began in 2009. With the group pledging its allegiance to the Islamic Statein 2015, declaring themselves a province of the Caliphate, the regional and global security concerns are increasingly apparent. The counter-insurgency reached peak intensity in 2015 when a joint multinational military operation pushed Boko Haram from its main urban power centers in northern Nigeria. Though the Nigerian military claims the group is nearly defeated, international observers maintain that the conflict is nowhere near over. Although the group now has little direct territorial control, the insurgency continues. Over time, the conflict has spread into several neighboring countries, including Chad, Cameroon, and Niger — the three other countries that share the Lake Chad Basin.
European Commission DG ECHO