AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - Burkina Faso is being targeted because so far it has been an example of coexistence among different religious communities

Ouagadougou (Agenzia Fides) - A further sign of the progressive deterioration of security conditions in Burkina Faso (see Fides, 20/11/2019) is given by the recall back home of the children of US diplomats accredited to Ouagadougou.
But the crisis in Burkina Faso must be placed within the wide range of insecurity which now includes most of the Sahel States, as underlined by two important conferences on the topic, the first promoted by the Catholic Church and the second by various actors of the international community and the Countries of the region. The working seminar of the Episcopal Conferences of Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast and Ghana organized by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), recently concluded in Ouagadougou with an appeal "to the authors of attacks and massacres, so that they put an end to these acts in the name of respect for life, which is a sacred gift of God that no one can dispose of, whatever his ambition, his ethnic, cultural, political or religious affiliation is".
The Bishops of the region have also urged the civil authorities to "make the protection of populations the priority of priorities, to promote good governance, and to engage concretely in the fight against corruption and for the just distribution of wealth".
The sixth edition of the Dakar Forum was held in Senegal from 18 to 19 November, on the theme, "Peace and security in Africa: today's challenges to multilateralism". According to data presented at the Forum, in the first half of 2019, more than 300 attacks by different jihadist groups were reviewed in the region. According to what emerged at the Forum, Burkina Faso is the focus of these groups based on a very precise strategy: to undermine peaceful coexistence among the different religious communities and provoke inter-community conflicts. Burkina Faso was an example of this peaceful coexistence for all States in the region. Throwing this country into chaos would undermine the security of the Sahel and the surrounding areas. The danger of the confessional war trap has recently been denounced by the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Kaboré (see Fides, 15/10/2019) and by local Bishops (see Fides, 19/6/2019). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 22/11/2019)

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