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French Citizens Prime Targets for Kidnappers
According to an article which recently appeared in the
New York Times, France may well have unwittingly become the principle source of
funds for Al Qaeda while French nationals have become the preferred kidnap
victims.
In the past, European nationals were captured by
amateur criminal groups in Africa’s Sahel countries and sold on to a series of
intermediaries before ending up with a group capable of making an international
ransom demand which was sometimes Al-Qaeda.
Now it seems that Al-Qaeda has succeeded in
establishing formal kidnapping procedures through its affiliate organisations
in the Islamic Maghreb (North Africa), the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) and Shabab
(Somalia).
In a bid to maximise profits, the preferred victims are now people from those countries who are believed to have paid ransoms in the past.
The New York Times indicates that in 2003 Al-Qaeda kidnappers
received around US$ 200,000 per hostage whereas they now receive US$ 10 million
per victim. Indeed, Al Qaeda has declared
that ransoms account for about 50% of its operating revenue.
All European countries deny making any payments for
hostages but it is alleged that ransoms often take the form of “foreign aid”. It seems that France heads the league table
with payments since 2008 totalling US$ 58 million. Switzerland, Spain and Austria follow.
Among the few countries who categorically refuse to
make any payments are the US and Britain.
The results are two-fold:
-
French,
Swiss, Spanish and Austrian nationals are prime targets but those who are
kidnapped are generally released.
-
US
and British victims are fewer but those few are rarely released.
For those who need to make regular visits to Africa,
including our own staff, kidnapping is yet another danger which has made the
headlines in recent weeks and we would certainly advise our clients to be take
every care when travelling in the countries at risk.
For the full New York Time article: