Nato faces challenge to tackle migration from the Sahel region

The alliance has adopted a closer relationship with the region in recent years

In the Sahel, located between the Sahara desert and the equator, prolonged drought and unpredictable weather patterns are forcing many people to migrate in search of a better life elsewhere. AFP

Migration from the Sahel region is one of the main threats Nato is currently facing, officials said, as the alliance rounded up a historic summit in Madrid on Thursday.

The alliance's southern neighbourhood, particularly the Middle East, North Africa and Sahel regions, has faced interconnected security, demographic, economic and political challenges over the years.

“Instability beyond our borders is also contributing to irregular migration and human trafficking,” a Nato official told a press briefing attended by The National.

Climate change, fragile state institutions, health emergencies and food insecurity have all contributed to the flow of migration.

"It provides a fertile ground for the proliferation of non-state armed groups, including terrorist organisations,” the official said.

“It also enables destabilising and coercive interference by strategic competitors,” he said.

In 2020, the Sahel region was mentioned for the first time in a Nato summit communique.

"Our heads of state noted jointly in this declaration that the deteriorating situation in the Sahel region matters to native collective defence, and security," he said.

Nato has been trying to "build a stronger relationship and interest for the region that is of strategic importance for many of our allies" the official said.

French soldiers training at Menaka military base in north-east Mali. French troops were handing back a military base there before a final withdrawal from the Sahel nation in June. AFP

By working with allies in the region Nato is a part of alleviating the problem of migration.

"Nato’s deployment in the Aegean Sea has helped curb illegal and dangerous human trafficking, together with Greece, Turkey, and the EU," Nato said.

The alliance has a centre for the south in Naples, Italy, to "improve our ability to anticipate regional crises and respond to them quickly".

For years Nato has been helping its allies in the Middle East and North Africa to build up their own defence capacities.

During the Madrid summit Spain urged its Nato member states to consider a bigger role for the alliance in North Africa and the Sahel.

US President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the Nato summit in Madrid. AP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a news conference. PA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the final day of the Nato summit. AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden shake hands as Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson look on at a Nato summit in Madrid. Reuters

Heads of state of Nato member countries and their spouses pose for a group photo during a visit to the Prado Museum, in Madrid. AFP

French president Emmanuel Macron, right, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the Prado Museum visit. AP

Mr Biden takes a selfie with Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and his wife Lydia Abela as they visit the Prado Museum. AP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, right, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's wife Annik Penders have a conversation at the museum. AP

Spanish police stand in front of protesters during an anti-Nato demonstration near Tirso de Molina square in Madrid. AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on a giant screen as he delivers a statement at the start of the first plenary session of the Nato summit. AFP

World leaders pose for a photo during the summit. Reuters

US President Joe Biden, left, and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. AP

Maria Begona Gomez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the first Lady of Lithuania, Diana Nausediene, first lady of Malta, Lydia Abela, and Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg's Prime Minister, before a visit to the royal site of San Idelfonso in Segovia. EPA

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde pose for a picture after signing an agreement in Madrid. AP

King Felipe VI of Spain addresses leaders during a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters

Mr Johnson meets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. PA

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid. AP

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia greet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, during a royal reception for heads of governments and states. EPA

King Felipe VI, left, Mr Sanchez, second left and Mr Macron before the dinner. AP

Nato leaders pose for a 'family photo' with King Felipe and Queen Letizia in Madrid. Reuters

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, left, with Mr Biden and Mr Macron. EPA

Mr Biden, left, and King Felipe arrive for a meeting at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Reuters

Mr Johnson talks to journalists on his plane during a flight from Germany – where he was attending the G7 summit – to the Nato summit in the Spanish capital. PA

Mr Erdogan, second left, meets Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Niinisto of Finland and Ms Andersson of Sweden before the summit. Reuters

Mr Biden shakes hands with Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain at the Palace of Moncloa, in Madrid. AFP

Mr Erdogan, centre, arrives at the Torreon air base in Madrid. AP

Mr Sanchez, right, speaks with Mr Stoltenberg before the summit. EPA

US first lady Jill Biden, centre left, and Spain's Queen Letizia speak with a family during a visit to a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees in Madrid. AP

Spanish police patrol outside the Ifema convention centre before the Nato summit in Madrid. EPA

Mr Sanchez and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern hold the jerseys of their national football teams during a meeting at Moncloa Palace. EPA

Finland's President Niinisto speaks during a briefing in Madrid before the Nato summit. Reuters

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media after arriving at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. EPA

Spanish police officers control traffic on the Spain-France border in Irun. Reuters

Mr Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference to preview the Nato summit at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. AFP

Spanish police use sniffer dogs to check a podium at the Ifema centre in Madrid. EPA

US first lady Jill Biden waves on arrival at Torrejon air base in Madrid. Reuters

Nato's leaders held a final summit session, focused on the south, on Thursday morning, after almost two days of talks dominated by Russia's war in Ukraine.

Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said he did not rule out a Nato intervention in Mali if needed, after the alliance's summit statement cited terrorism among the "hybrid threats" that hostile powers can use to undermine its stability.

"If it were necessary and if it posed a threat to our security, we would do it," he told local radio station RNE. "We don't rule it out."