Last Friday, Al Qaeda terrorists attacked a hotel and cafe in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. This week, the world is learning the faces and stories of the victims of the attack. Many of the slaughtered were humanitarian aid workers, travelers, and global citizens dedicated to the same causes you care about.
33-year-old photographer Leila Alaoui was starting her first week for Amnesty Interniational when she was shot in the attack in Ouagadougou. She shared stunning photographs exploring themes of migration, identity in culture, and displacement before she died.
.@Amnesty pay tribute to #LeilaAlaoui, and share the series she produced before her death. https://t.co/axTSuwi0Q2pic.twitter.com/hYThe04IRp
— BJPhoto - 1854 (@1854) January 20, 2016Ahmed Kéré was working for the Sonder Project, an organization working to end extreme poverty by creating access to education, water, and food supplies, when he was killed in the attack. The Sonder Project led a group of twelve volunteers to build schools in Burkina Faso, and will continue to fight poverty despite the senseless attacks by building a school in honor of Ahmed.
As many of you know, The Sonder Project lost a dear friend this week to the senseless attacks that took place in... https://t.co/Oh5ZntelcD
— TheSonderProject (@Sonder_Project) January 19, 2016These aren’t the only recent victims of terrorism. It seems that every few days another barbaric act takes the lives of innocent people. Most recently, there were the men and women who died in a shopping plaza in Jakarta, Indonesia and those who died in a mall in Iraq. Many of them came from countries all over and sought to make the world a better place. Each of them left positive marks on the world. As global citizens we can continue to follow in their footsteps by understanding why and how instances of seemingly senseless violence occur and then by taking action to end it.
So how can we, as global citizens, begin to understand why terrorists choose shopping malls, cafes, hotels, and the places they do?
Extremist terrorist attacks appear random. But there are usually specific motives, however deranged and malicious. Here are some theories on why certain regions are the target of terrorist attacks.
Taking advantage of weak governments
The attack in Burkina Faso highlights several motives of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM—the group claiming responsibility). One theory argues that militants exploit lack of security, and weak government bodies to further destabilize regions.
According to General David M. Rodriguez, the head of AFRICOM in this article, “The network of al-Qa-ida and its affiliates and adherents continues to exploit Africa’s under-governed regions and porous borders to train and conduct attacks.”
“Weak government and chaos are always conducive to terrorism,” says Hans-Jakob Schindler, coordinator of a United Nations Security Council.
And in the case of Burkina Faso, political structure has been anything but smooth. The country swore in a new president less than a month ago on December 29th. The outgoing president tried to change the constitution to remain in power and was forcibly removed from office after an interim government was set up to preside over the next set of elections.
So AQIM saw a country in transition and tried to derail its return to normalcy.
What can be done:
This highlights the need to improve security for transitioning governments. Stable local governments will be more effective at preventing terror attacks.
Creating the appearance of chaos on a global scale
Terrorist organizations are organized. That may sound obvious but the high level of coordination is usually overlooked when attacks occur in Istanbul, Paris, Ouagadougou--all over the world. But this apparent randomness stems from organized systems that control branches around the world. Attacks that were thought to be isolated are, oftentimes, connected.
Seriously, terrorist groups have complicated relationships, are organized and do work together in complex, shifting relationships creating the illusion that attacks are random and separate. For example, these two jihadist groups, AQIM and Al Mourabitoun were once rivals, but joined together when they attacked a hotel in Mali.
Organized international terrorist groups thrive by creating the illusion that attacks are completely random when they’re not, because it creates an environment where everyone feels at risk.
What can be done:
Continuing to put pressure on world leaders, in both developing and developed countries, to prioritize working together and sharing information is key to ending internationally organized attacks before they occur.
Preying on vulnerable communities
Deaths from terrorism jumped from 18,111 in 2013 to 32,658 people (a 45 percent increase) between 2013 and 2014.
Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria had the most deaths from terrorist attacks than anywhere else in the world in 2014.
Libya, Ukraine, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Syria are all countries with high amounts of refugees and displacement. They saw the largest increases in terrorism.
And after the attacks in Paris generated so much global outrage and sympathy, countries seem to be more attuned to the threat of terrorism. But perspective matters. People living in poor countries with political instability and enduring regional conflict are more affected by terrorism. These are people who lack resources, access to education and need the world’s support.
Terrorists attack vulnerable communities mainly because they are easy targets. But they also hope to radicalize people who feel excluded by society and, thus, grow their ranks.
“Ten of the 11 countries most affected by terrorism also have the highest rates of refugees and internal displacement. This highlights the strong inter-connectedness between the current refugee crisis, terrorism and conflict,” says Steve Killelea the Executive Chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace.
What can be done:
Support displaced communities and refugees fleeing violence and civil war in their home countries. These are the people who need urgent help. When world leaders, and foreign communities turn their back on victims of war it furthers the damage that terrorist groups inflict on vulnerable communities.
Go to take action now to let the world know you are a global citizen working to protect the world’s most vulnerable people.