ANSWER AFRICA
– This top 10 list of most dangerous countries in Africa is based on
the degree instability and danger that commonly erupt in these
countries. Most of these countries are characterised by war and
political instability, acts of terrorism, crimes against humanity. This
list is taken from the Global Peace Index report of 2012. Global Peace
Index has been classifying 153 countries according to how peaceful they
are. The 2012 Global Peace Index has actually discovered that the world
has become slightly more peaceful when compared to the previous year.
The list considers renewed fighting, the resurgence of political
instability including terrorist threats. Here is the list of:
10 Most Dangerous Countries in Africa
10. Ethiopia
Ethiopia comes up at number 10 on our list of 10 most dangerous places
in Africa. Ethiopia has been involved in a conflict with Eritrea for
more than ten years. Eritrea got her independence from Ethiopia about 30
years ago following a prolonged fight for freedom. The Border disputes
between Eritrea and Ethiopia have been going on ever since Eritrea broke
free from Ethiopia in 1991. The International Court of Justice had
clearly defined the borders between the 2 countries but there is still a
tense relationship between the nations. The Ethiopia have not fully
withdrawn from the region.
There is also a group known as Oromo Liberation Front which has been
labeled as outlaw and a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian
government. The organisation was started in 1973 by Oromo nationalists
to promote self-determination for the Oromo people against what they
call “Abyssinian colonial rule”
9. Burundi
For the past 15 years, Burundi has known political conflict and for more
than a decade, the local and regional peace talks have been initiated.
The international community other peace loving organisations have tried
to find a way out of the endless Burundian conflicts but the outcome
seems to be a worsening state of political, economic and social violence
and inequalities. The misaligned political interests have fuelled these
instabilities over the years.
8. Zimbabwe
Following the country’s presidential election in 2008 between Robert
Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, his main rival, both claimed victory in
the first round of elections, Zimbabwe has regenerated a wave of renewed
violence and instability. with the establishment of a system with
two-heads: president as Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime
Minister in 2009, the situation has eased off a little bit.
Zimbabwe Peace Project reported a 15% increase in human rights
violations that were “directly linked” to the new push for polls in 2012
and 2 years earlier, attempts by the Prime Minister to develop the
Constitution have been sabotaged by the camp of Robert Mugabe. Public
meetings were banned, arbitrary arrests, looting and ransacking, have
pushed the country into violence. In general, Zimbabwean government has
remained a troubled coalition characterised by bickering and stalemate.
The political impasse has impacted negatively on the benefits of a good
governance and stalled Zimbabwe from operating in its full capacity. It
has generally constrained peaceful political participation as well as
economic progress.
7. Chad
Chad has drastically improved it’s position by striking a more healthy
relationship with her neighbouring countries. In the recent past, Chad
was politically insecure and volatile. Ethnic clashes, banditry and
fighting between government forces and rebel groups contributed to a
worsening security situation in the region. It was reported that an
estimated 180,000 Chadians were forced from their homes within three
years while 285,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) and
the Darfur region of Sudan have fled violence in their own countries
and live in refugee camps in eastern Chad. The instability also impacted
some 700,000 Chadians whose communities have been disrupted by fighting
and strained by the presence of the displaced.
6. Nigeria
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and home to over 155 million
people is in the midst of political, economic and social instability.
The north, central and south eastern parts of Nigeria are the most
affected parts. In the recent times, there has been a sharp increase in
religious conflict at the north of the country where the killings of
Muslims and Christians have sent nearly 20,000 to their death within the
last decade. There has also been an increase in acts of terrorism and
inhumanity against government and public structures including churches
carried out by a sect called Boko Haram.
The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) operates in
the southern part of the country, attacking the facilities and personnel
of oil companies. Kidnappings of expatriates and attacks on oil
pipelines are their predilections. The Amnesty programme initiated by
the Federal Government seem to have successfully reduced these attacks
on government properties But the country is facing a rising wave of
kidnapping and corruption.
5. Libya
The crisis in Libya seized the attention of the international community
and has been labeled a clear case for when timely and decisive response
to uphold response in the face of an imminent threat of mass atrocities
should occur. The protests led to the downfall of the authority of
Muammar Gaddafi in the east. Since then, international intervention
under the authority of NATO has still not managed to completely restore
calm in the country.
4. Central African Republic
Despite the signing of a peace agreement in 2008, some groups have not
signed the agreement and are still active. The security situation in the
Central African Republic is growing more precarious by the day as an
insurgent coalition advances toward the capital city of Bangui. In
south-east, the troops of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph
Kony, continue unabated. This group is part of the most violent in the
world, has expanded internationally and is present in the DRC and
southern Sudan, where he is engaged in looting and abductions of
civilians.
The Central African Republic has recently joined the list. Central
African Republic faces a devastating humanitarian crisis that threatens
to plunge the population even deeper into misery.
3. Democratic Republic of Congo
A series of landmark and peer-reviewed studies by the IRC and some of
the world’s leading epidemiologists conclude that an estimated 5.4
million people died from conflict-related causes in Congo since 1998.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced a lot of border
insecurity and violence within. The massive influx of refugees after the
Rwandan genocide.
To the east, the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the
Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU), Ugandan rebel movement, is in conflict
with the Congolese government. This group is related to the Shabab
Somali fundamentalist Islamic group linked to al-Qaida.
2 – Sudan
Sudan is a country that has suffered internal conflicts with serious
political, security and humanitarian consequences over the years and the
situation in has worsened from the past 2 years. Violence has flared
along the border since South Sudan became independent last year.
Conflicts have erupted in two border states where communities
traditionally allied to the south found themselves north of the border
after independence. The conflict in Darfur has killed about 300,000
people, including those due to famine and disease, and 2.7 million
people have been displaced since 2003. The peace agreement signed in
2006 between the government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM), one of the strongest rebel groups, is fragile because all
factions did not sign.
In the South, thanks to self-determination referendum in 2011, the
conflict in Southern Sudan is in the process of healing. However, the
situation in Abyei, remains uncertain.
1 – Somalia
For over 20 years, Somalia has been in the face of a civil war. There
has been constant conflict between the Transitional Federal Government
which is supported by the United Nations and several groups of Islamist
rebels, some of which are close to al-Qaida.
The government of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed seems to control part of
the capital Mogadishu, which happens to be the scene of regular
fighting between both sides to maintain control.
With Somalia’s stability still foggy, over 20 percent of Somalis
under the Office of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR) have fled
the country controlled by fear.
Among all the sub-Saharan African countries which experienced wars in
the past 10 years Rwanda have not been ranked among the ten most
dangerous countries.
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