Abstract: Africa has suffered from the spread of crises and armed conflicts throughout its history. The internal crises of African States are characterized by their great likelihood to turn into armed conflicts compared to the rest of the world. Most of these conflicts are ethnic. The last three years in Africa have witnessed the outbreak and continuation of five conflicts. A- The Conflict in Lake Chad Basin: The Lake Chad Basin region faces one of the world's greatest humanitarian crises today. The area is considered the theater of Boko Haram’s operations. Attacks in the region are markedly increasing which make the multinational forces unable to control the situation and as a result of the deteriorating security situation, humanitarian groups have been forced to suspend their operations there. According to 2017 estimates, the conflict has displaced more than 2.5 million people which make it the second largest displacement crisis in the world after the Syrian crisis. B- The Conflict in South Sudan: The conflict in South Sudan erupted initially between two major groups when the crisis broke out between the President Silva Kiir who belongs to Dinka ethnic group and his deputy (Rick Machar), who belongs to Nuer ethnic group. Despite the conflict being essentially a political one within the political elite to gain power, the ethnicization of the conflict has turned it from a limited armed conflict between two ethnic groups to gain power into a comprehensive civil war deemed as a war of all against all. This conflict lasted more than 15 years before it came to an end by signing the final peace agreement between the conflict parties in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 12th September 2018. C- The Conflict in Burundi: In 2015, President Nkurunziza issued a number of laws that limits public freedoms and then he announced his candidacy for a third term, in violation of the Constitution that limited Presidents to two terms in office. That resulted in deterioration of the situation and an outbreak of protests and violence in the country. Despite this, the presidential elections were held and Nkurunziza was declared the winner of a third term. After that, Nkurunziza amended the constitution to allow unlimited terms in office. A move that made France, Belgium and the European Union cut their relations with Burundi. In June 2018, Nkurunziza announced that he would not run again for president in 2020 stressing his adherence to his position and that he will support the new president, who will be elected in 2020. D- The Conflict in The Democratic Republic Of Congo: In August 2016, a limited armed conflict broke out in one of the poorest regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Kasai Province) which followed the killing of one of the traditional leaders in the province after violent clashes with the security forces. The conflict expanded to include four other Provinces. That prompted the government to release political demonstrators and take a number of measures to contain the crisis. Although the situation in the region gradually calmed down, the tensions remain as the conflict has not been resolved definitively. E- The Crisis in Cameroon: Cameroon has always been plagued by repeated waves of protests in English-speaking areas as a result of their sense of marginalization, and political and economic exclusion. In October 2017, a decree was issued to impose French as the official language of institutions in English-speaking provinces which led to an outbreak of a new wave of protests and strikes by teachers, staff and lawyers in those provinces. As a result of the government's disregard of the protesters' demands, the protests escalated. The demands of the protesters rose to the point of demanding the independence of (Ambazonia). The crisis turned into an armed conflict between the government forces and members of the Ambazonia Front. In an attempt to contain the crisis and create a suitable atmosphere for presidential elections, Cameroonian President Paul Biya made a number of cabinet reshuffles where a number of politicians from English-speaking regions have been appointed to senior positions. The Presidential election was held on 7th of last October but the separatists in Ampazonia declared their refusal of the elections and their non-recognition of its results. On October 22, Paul Biya won a re-election with 71 percent of valid votes.
الملخص: تعاني القارة الإفريقية من انتشار الأزمات والنزاعات والصراعات المسلحة بها على مدار تاريخها، وتتسم الأزمات الداخلية للدول الإفريقية بقدرتها الكبيرة على التحول إلى صراعاتٍ مسلحةٍ بسرعةٍ كبيرةٍ مقارنةً بباقي أنحاء العالم، كما تتسم غالبيتها بأنها صراعات إثنية، ويرجع ذلك لطبيعة نشأة الدول الإفريقية وتقسيمها خلال حقبة الاستعمار، ثم تبعيتها للدول الاستعمارية بعد الاستقلال. وتُصنف الصراعات الإفريقية بوصفها صراعاتٍ إثنية، أو صراعاتٍ سياسيةً بين النخب الحاكمة حول السلطة والثروة، ثم ظهر مؤخراً مفهومٌ جديدٌ، وهي الصراعات ذات النزعة الدينية تحت مسمى الإرهاب. وشهدت السنوات الثلاث الأخيرة نشوب واستمرار 5 صراعاتٍ رئيسيةٍ في القارة الإفريقية، هي: 1- الصراع بمنطقة حوض بحيرة تشاد- 2013م: حيث اتسع نطاق هجمات بوكو حرام لتطال السكان المقيمين بمحيط البحيرة، ما تسبب في أزمةٍ إنسانيةٍ غير مسبوقة، وإغلاق الحدود المشتركة بين دول الحوض، وتشريد الملايين، وأساس حل المشكلة هو علاج الأوضاع الاقتصادية والاجتماعية بالإقليم. 2- الصراع الإثني بجنوب السودان- ديسمبر 2013م: اقتصر في البداية على الدنكا والنوير، لاختلاف الرؤى داخل الحركة الشعبية، ما أدى لمقتل ونزوح الآلاف، وانتهاكات خطيرة لحقوق الإنسان، وتدهور أمني واقتصادي، ما يستدعي اللجوء لآليات العدالة الانتقالية لتحقيق الأمن والاستقرار. 3- الصراع في بوروندي- يوليو 2015م: نتيجة إعلان الرئيس البوروندي (نوكورونزيزا) ترشحه لفترة رئاسية ثالثة، بما يتنافى مع الدستور، بزعم أنه تولى في المرة الأولى 2005م من خلال التعيين من قبل البرلمان. وأدى الصراع لمقتل الآلاف، وتسييس الجيش، وانقسامه ما بين مؤيدين للرئيس ومعارضين. 4- الصراع في الكونغو الديمقراطية- أغسطس 2016م: حيث نشب صراعٌ مسلحٌ في واحدٍ من أفقر الأقاليم وهو إقليم كاساي Kasai، في أعقاب مقتل أحد الزعماء التقليديين في الإقليم بعد اشتباكاتٍ عنيفةٍ مع قوات الأمن، وإعادة تقسيم المقاطعات. وأدى الصراع لتزايد حدة الأزمة الإنسانية، وتجنيد الأطفال واستغلالهم جنسيا، ونزوح وتشريد الآلاف داخلياً وخارجياً، وقتل الآلاف من المدنيين. 5- الأزمة في الكاميرون: صدر في أكتوبر 2017م قرارٌ بفرض اللغة الفرنسية في الهيئات والمؤسسات الرسمية في المقاطعات الناطقة بالإنجليزية، ما ترتب عليه اندلاع موجةٍ جديدةٍ من الاحتجاجات السلمية ضد ذلك القرار، تبعها إضراب المعلمين والموظفين والمحامين في تلك المقاطعات، وأدت الأزمة إلى نزوح الآلاف.
