DELIMITATION:
Like political science, this panel is of interest to all other social sciences. It will focus on the movement of terrorist groups, armed bandits, groupuscules often of a state character, and the armies of ESA countries in the fight against terrorism. This paper sets out to apprehend the territorial dynamics underway in the Sahel and their articulation with the cross-border mobilitý of jihadist groups. It will also highlight the different characteristics of mobility in the Sahel, which faces major difficulties. A qualitative approach will be used to better understand the challenges of cross-border mobility in the Sahel.
State of knowledge :
Today, cross-border mobility between Sahelian states faces major difficulties. Citizens of the Sahel find it difficult to leave from one end to the other for reasons of insecurity. Despite the efforts of governments to combat insecurity, banditry, attacks and cross-border crime are now part of the daily lives of certain sections of the population who have no activities to support themselves. In addition to this aspect, the vastness of state territories means that these activities are less controlled, and borders provide fertile ground for all kinds of criminal activity. Intervention by several national and international players has failed to put an end to these scourges. As a result, community retreats are seen as a source of protection. As a result, it is becoming difficult for people to move their identities and goods around the area.
The narrowing of cross-border mobility has created illegal connections with local roots, enabling non-state armed groups to take control of border areas not controlled by the state.
This idea lends comfort to the situation in the Sahel, where mobility takes many forms. Some do it in the form of economic activities, others see it as experiences and adventures. In 1927, Russian-American researcher Pitirim Alexandrovitch Sorokin published a book in the USA entitled “Social Mobility”, conceptualizing mobility from two angles. We have “vertical mobility”, a change of position on the social ladder, which can be upwards or downwards. “Horizontal mobility”, which refers to a change in status or social category that does not imply any change in relative position on the social ladder (for example, a change in family structure due to divorce or marriage, a change in religious or political affiliation, or a change of job with the same level of qualification and remuneration).
First and foremost, cross-border mobility refers to the movement of people from one state to another for economic, social or cultural purposes. Alongside this, we have another form of cross-border mobility, the movement of non-state armed groups between the various countries of the Sahel, with a well-established agenda for its implementation (cross-border crime, banditry, etc.). As for security governance, this is a system in which public tranquility is controlled by the State, with no one exposed to threats. This security governance encompasses a variety of types of security: individual security, social security, food security, political security, economic security, legal security, judicial security, financial security and so on.
Based on these ideas, borders as a social, economic, cultural and political reality assert a genuine removal of barriers enabling community blossoming between border villages for historical reasons.
Indeed, the Sahelian states need to reconfigure their territories to meet the challenge of mobility and the circulation of information.
The cross-border economic connection will dissipate the sovereignty of the Sahelian states, and strengthen the ongoing fight against insecurity and cultural hybridity between the nations of different states. Taking local factors into account will be an obligation for the development of local economies between border countries.
The research hypothesis assumes that territorial reconfiguration facilitates the appropriation of identity paradoxes and facilitates the free circulation of goods and services. Security governance is an alternative for peace and security.
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