Djibouti expels Human Rights NGO members: The issue of bogus NGOs operating in Africa under the guise of defending human rights is not new. These NGOs claim to come to Africa to “defend Human Rights”; however, they have often been found to peddle propaganda in African countries, potentially causing trouble in these countries. They frequently deviate from their original mission and engage in dubious activities. Many African countries such as Uganda and Zimbabwe have already recognized the dangers of harboring these NGOs and have taken measures to shut them down. Now, Djibouti has also taken similar measures after uncovering the truth about these NGOs.
Djibouti expels “Human Rights” NGO members
As per a report, two representatives of the well-known NGO, the International Federation for Human Rights were expelled in quick succession from Djibouti. The International Federation for Human Rights has explained that a program officer, who had a valid visa, was refused entry to the territory at the airport.
She was arrested and forced onto a plane and the next day, FIDH Vice-President Alexis Deswaef, who had been in the country for two days, was also arrested at his hotel. His notes, phone, and SIM cards were confiscated, and he was expelled from the country without explanation. The Belgian lawyer was carrying out a mission on the state of human rights in the country.
As for a reason behind their expulsion, it was revealed that during their mission, the FIDH representatives had met with members of civil society and leaders of opposition parties. The Djibouti authorities have stated that FIDH can remain in the country if they strictly adhere to the mission for which they are staying in Djibouti. However, as per the authorities, it turned out that they were deviating from their initial plan. The authorities stated that they never told us that they were coming to support the opposition or the political parties in general, otherwise we would not have issued them the visa.
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Further, as per the authorities, upon reading the press release from the organization, they accused Djibouti of hosting foreign bases, which does not align with their mission.
As a result, Djibouti had to take the extreme measure of expelling the representatives from the country. Many similar NGOs have previously been found to engage in destabilizing acts in other African countries as well. Recently, Uganda refused to renew the mandate of the UN Rights Office and decided to rely on domestic institutions to safeguard rights.
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Likewise, Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa also had to take measures to tackle the threats posed by the bogus NGOs, that, under the pretext of promoting democracy and human rights, act as agents of Western propaganda and engage in regime change agents or destabilize the country. Therefore, Djibouti seems to have taken a cue from these countries and acted in its own national interest to pre-emptively thwart any ill motives of the NGO.
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