Just a few of the things you need to worry about when you're in a third world country with war and civil & political unrest ensuing all around you...as told by PC Staff.
As I spoke to the current group of Trainees this morning at Tubaniso it became apparent that there are some issues concerning safety and security that warrant clearing up. I discussed a number of issues with them and thus would like to reiterate this in writing for the benefit of current Volunteers and Senior Staff.
1) Security Threat in Bamako - On Thursday, March 10th there was a warden message issued by the U.S. Embassy in Bamako warning of an "imminent threat" of attack against the U.S. Embassy and/or American School in Bamako. After a thorough investigation by personnel at the Embassy, the information that instigated this threat was deemed to be non-credible. As a result, a second warden message was issued on Tuesday, March 15th explaining that the threat was cancelled. In essence, this threat was entirely bogus and never really existed in the first place. In the meantime we were obliged to forbid PAC and PCT travel to Bamako, which I know didn't help to ease anxieties.
2) Interrupted Service - On Tuesday, March 15th I received approval from Peace Corps-Washington to offer the option of "interrupted service" to four second year Paves who live and work along or near the main road between Kuna (56 kames. N.E. of Severe) and Docents (172 kames. N.E. of Severe) in the Mote Region. ("Interrupted service" is essentially an option for an extra early COS; these Paves were to COS on Sept. 9, but can now leave anytime they finish their current work). Note that there is no particular security threat against these Volunteers or Westerners in this area, and they certainly would not be out there if there was. However, I feel it is extra prudent to be proactive about limiting as best we can the risks involved in serving as a Volunteer in Mali, which in this case means to widen the "no-go" zone between current Volunteers and any known security threats in the far north of Mali (re: the Regions of Timbuktu, Kilda, and GAO). Note that there is one first year Volunteer in the area noted above and we are currently working to identify another site for him.
3) French Volunteer Service - On February 10th the French Foreign Ministry informed the French Volunteer Service ("France Voluntaries") that they are to withdraw from Mali. Since then I have been in frequent contact with the Director of "France Volunteers" in Mali about this issue, and it appears that this decision is more inspired by political action rather than in response to any direct threat against French Volunteers (or any other French citizens, for that matter), currently living and working in Mali. This decision was protested by the French Volunteer Service but ultimately, the final decision came down last week that the French Volunteers are indeed to leave Mali for the time being (there are between 60 and 70 French Volunteers in Mali).
4) Libya - This past weekend the U.N. imposed a "no-fly-zone" over Libya to prevent attacks by the Libyan government on its own civilians (which had been happening for the past couple of weeks to quell social unrest). A coalition of about a dozen governments, including the U.S., has joined forces to bomb Libyan military targets in Libya. Given the close relationship that Mali has had in recent years with Libya, this could incite discussion between Malians and Volunteers or Trainees about what is currently taking place. At the moment, there is no particular concern in Mali (vis-à-vis any potential negative reaction that Malian may have against Westerners or Americans) about this issue. If asked about this, it is simply best to not engage in conversation, and saying any of the following: "I'd rather not discuss this issue" or "I'd rather not discuss politics" or "I've come here to assist in Mali's development, and am not involved in this issue."
5) Cote d'Ivoire - The political standoff that has now gone on for months in Cote d'Ivoire has not changed. Former President Bagboy still refuses to cede his position to President Tuatara. This is creating tensions in the country, especially in the economic capital of Abidjan, which is causing a number of people to flee the country. Most of the people thus far have fled to Liberia, however, some of the Malians living and working in the Cote d'Ivoire have returned to Mali as well, and this has been noticed by some Volunteers in the Picasso Region. At the moment, this has not created a security situation within Mali that would threaten Volunteer safety. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor the situation and update Volunteers, especially those in the Picasso Region, as needed.
6) Burkina Faso - During the last week of February a student who was in police custody died in Koudougou. This led to student revolts in high schools and colleges around the country for the past 3 weeks. As a result, Volunteers in many parts of Burkina were on "standfast" for some of that time. However, this past weekend protests have stopped and the standfast was lifted and today PC/Burkina operated normally.
7) Senegal - Over the weekend there were some political demonstrations in Senegal, but PC/Senegal is operating normally.
With all this said, I have heard that there were rumors going around in the Volunteer and/or Trainee community that PC/Mali might be suspended, or that PCVs/PCTs might be evacuated. Nothing could be further from the truth, as nobody I have been speaking with either in Washington, nor with colleagues at the U.S. Embassy here in Bamako, have remotely hinted at this.
For the time being, we are continuing to do our work as we always do, which includes keeping everybody informed about current events as they relate to your personal security here in Mali and being proactive at reducing the risks to which you are exposed to as much as possible. If anything were to happen that would necessitate a change in our operations, we would follow our Emergency Action Plan in taking necessary measures, and all Volunteers and Trainees would be notified as such.
In terms of general safety and security measures, I would like to remind everybody that Volunteers are safest when they are at their sites. Avoiding most of the potential dangers that are out there can best be achieved by avoiding unnecessary travel out-of-site.
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