Instability and the Guinean economy

The recent general strike in Guinea brought international attention to the high costs of and deteriorating standards of living in the West African country. Inflation has caused the price of a bag of rice, the staple food, to double in the last two years.

The UN's IRIN news service ran a feature on another byproduct of this economic desperation.

Employment opportunities for the average young Guinean are limited, particularly in Nzerekore in the rural southeast, where for years thousands of young men operate as “volunteer” soldiers who supply their own uniforms, in the hope of one day getting a real military job and kit [uniform].

Security in the southeast of the country, know as La Guinée forestière, has been shaky for some time. The region borders both Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire. Which means that throughout the last 17 years, the region has bordered at least one country in civil war. Over the last decade, Guinea has played host to one million refugees, according to the government.

In late 2000, there was a brief invasion of the Guéckédou and Kissidougou prefectures by a supposed Guinean dissident group apparently backed by indicted war criminal harles Taylor, who was Liberia's dictator at the time.

Crime, deforestation and tensions between Guineans and refugees have all skyrocketed. This is understandable considering the fact that the already meager resources were been spread even more thinly. There is also some resentment that international NGOs offer a lot of programs and assistance to refugees while indigineous Guineans receive little help from anyone.

Adding to the insecurity is the presence of these armed, poorly trained 'volunteers.'

The UN estimates there are some 4,000 volunteer soldiers in Guinea’s lush “region forestiere”, or forest region. In the main town Nzerekore, volunteer soldiers can been seen dotted about the streets working as quasi-formal security for some of the many UN agencies and NGOs that have operations there, in return for a small allowance and money for uniforms.

However, given the pitiful state of the Guinean economy, it's not surprising that these 'volunteers' are so easily enticed.

In an April 2005 report, Human Rights Watch identified lack of job opportunities as a major impediment to breaking the cycle of war in West Africa, where “regional warriors” can hop from one conflict to another in return for a few dollars, or perhaps the promise of looting.

[...]

“Job creation and job opportunities are a problem in Sierra Leone now and I’m sure that they will become a problem in Liberia,” said [the International Rescue Committee's Sarah] Ward. “These Guinean communities have been negatively impacted by the arrival of these refugees and we need to help them as refugees and humanitarian assistance leave, too.”