User:JeanJacquesMoldu/sandbox

Divided Opinions
Since 2013 and the beginning of the Operation Serval, replaced in 2014 by Operation Barkhane, opinions in Mali have been divided as to whether the French intervention is legitimate. According to Aurélien Tobie, mission head for peace in Mali for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, "Between 2013 and 2015, we quickly realised after the peace agreements in Ouagadougou and Algiers for Mali that the Malian opinion towards the French presence was changing. People were supporting the Serval Operation, but did not understand why the French presence was being prolonged with the Barkhane Operation".

In 2017, the study "Mali-Meter" conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Mali measured the level of satisfaction amongst the Malin population with Operation Barkhane. Less than half of the respondents were satisfied with the French intervention. The study also showed geographical disparities considering the approbation of Operation Barkhane.

According to Aurélien Tobie, the differences of opinion between the north and the south of the country are explained by the difference in proximity of the population with the operations: "People in contact with the forces of Barkhane in the north of the country approve much more of it because they see changes in their daily lives. Conversely, people interviewed in southern Mali, who are generally higher educated but also further away from the conflict zone, are much more critical of the French presence".

Demonstrations against the French presence have been taking place since 2013 in Mali, on a regular basis. Patriotic groups have been emerging. These groups strive for an end of the French presence and some call for a Russian intervention.

In June 2019, a former Malian minister anonymously declared to the French newspaper Libération that anti-French sentiment is at its peak in Mali: "Conspiracy theories are flourishing everywhere. Soon, France will be accused of being responsible for the floods. The inertia of our own dirigents is the primary cause of the problem".

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita also strongly criticised the anti-French demonstrations. He stated in December 2019 that: "the foreign forces in our country are our allies in this tragic war imposed on us. We will not win this war by being mistaken in who is our veritable enemy and by falling into the terrorist groups' trap".

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned a "disinformation campaign" led by a rival power, implying, without naming it, Russia.

Françafrique
Many of the critics on the French intervention are revolving around the concept of Françafrique, a pejorative term used to describe alleged neocolonial practices of France in its former African colonies.

According to the Group for Research and Information on Peace and security (GRIP), there is in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso a widepsread opinion that France masks its real objectives in the Sahel. Many accuse France to deliberately destabilize the region, for the purpose of its own interests, to the detriment of the sovereignty of the Sahel countries.

Sahel is France’s principal source of uranium. Niger, Mali’s closest neighbour, is the fifth uranium producer in the world. The uranium mines owned by the French company Areva in Niger are located only two hundred kilometres away from Jihadist bastions in Mali. The border between Mali and Niger is supposedly loose. Hence, it seems likely that these uranium mines are endangered by the rise of ISIS in the region, which reinforces the idea of some critics that France has intervened for its sole interests.