The UK and Morocco share concern about the security and development issues faced by Sahelian countries. In the Sahel, the UK provided £177 million in bilateral Official Developmental Assistance in the financial year ending in 2025, including £46 million on health, £83 million on humanitarian, and £12 million on promoting stability and conflict prevention. UK embassies and aid programmes in Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania and aid programmes in Burkina Faso promote UK interests and seek to address the root causes of recurrent crises in the Sahel, working with international partners including Morocco. The UK's continued engagement and humanitarian aid helps reduce instability in the Sahel and impact on neighbouring states including Morocco and manage threats to our national security.

The UK condemns recent restrictions to democratic space in the Sahel and, in coordination with our international partners, we regularly raise our concerns with governments in the region. The UK remains committed to providing humanitarian assistance and supporting access to basic services for the people of the Sahel region. In doing so we seek to build resilience and address the root causes of insecurity and poverty, including by supporting inclusive political dialogue and engaging civil society actors.

The UK has repeatedly raised concerns about non-state armed groups in the Sahel with partners in the region. Russia and its proxies capitalise on instability and poverty to exploit resources and gain influence. This has resulted in a destabilising focus on hard security, human rights abuses and disinformation, leading to the UK announcing 13 sanctions against Wagner in Africa in July 2023. The UK takes approaches conflict and stability holistically, working closely with international partners. In 2024, the UK will provide around £245m to the Sahel, primarily to meet humanitarian needs and support local level conflict prevention programmes in Mali and Niger.

The UK combines development, diplomatic and defence approaches to respond to the instability in the Sahel and meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Our priorities are responding to humanitarian needs, building resilience, and addressing the root causes of insecurity and poverty (including supporting democratic political transitions).  The UK does not work through military transition governments, and we have most recently suspended direct support to Niger but we continue to provide humanitarian and development assistance to the people of the Sahel. Our development support includes education and reproductive health services for women. We support regionally led efforts to prevent the spread of insecurity.

The UK is engaging closely with Mauritania, the G5 Sahel Presidency, on the recent withdrawal of Niger and Burkina Faso. We continue to discuss the impacts of the withdrawals on the Sahel Coalition and the Alliance Sahel with partners, with a meeting of the Coalition planned for 14 December. The UK stands with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in calling for the restoration of democracy in Niger. Mauritania remains an important regional partner and we are working with NATO partners on a Defence Capacity Building programme for the country. I met with the Mauritanian Ambassador in London on 11 December.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK by method of entry and nationality (which may differ from country of origin), in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. These statistics are published in table Irr_D01 of the irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets, which can be downloaded via the table attached.

The latest data goes up to the end of June 2023.

The Secretary of State for Defence has not had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs or external stakeholders on this matter.

The UK is committed to building stability and bolstering conflict resolution across West Africa and the Sahel. We regularly raise security issues with governments in the region. For example, in July and August, the Foreign Secretary discussed insecurity with Ghanian Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah and Nigerian National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. I also have regular discussions with my counterparts in the region. The UK supports a number of regional programmes which are aimed at tackling the root causes of conflict, including combatting the rise of disinformation and ethnically stigmatising narratives. The Fulani community are particularly vulnerable to conflict, and we are in discussion with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) regarding the support provided to Fulani refugees.

The UK is committed to working with regional allies in West Africa to tackle violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin. Cameroon is an important partner in this effort. We provide training to the Directorate General of External Research operating in the Far North of Cameroon in order to strengthen their capacity to counter the terrorist threat posed by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa.

The UK works with and supports the efforts of the African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and countries across West Africa to counter the threat posed by terrorism, foster long-term stability and address the underlying drivers of conflict. The UK is assessing what support it can offer to the Accra Initiative, a regional security initiative, to help prevent the spread of violence and instability from the Sahel to coastal West Africa. In addition, the UK has strategic security partnerships with Ghana and Nigeria, which includes supporting Nigeria to address the causes of insecurity and conflict. The UK also continues to support stabilisation efforts in the Lake Chad Basin to build the capacity of the security sector in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad to respond to violent extremism and protect civilians affected by conflict.

The UK is aware that Burkina Faso's Prime Minister visited Mali in early February and referred to a 'federation' to boost their economic prospects. We are monitoring developments closely - Ministers have been clear that the approach that the Malian government is taking (including its partnership with Wagner Group) is counterproductive to regional security. The UK is a committed donor to the Sahel - in Mali and Burkina Faso, most of our funding is spent on humanitarian aid. The UK supports regional institutions including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union and are considering what support we could provide to regionally led initiatives such as the Accra Initiative to help prevent the spread of violence and foster long-term stability.

The UK is closely monitoring events in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region including the worsening security and humanitarian situation. The UK is committed to supporting stability and development in Burkina Faso. During a visit to Niger in February, the Minister for Development and Africa, Minister Mitchell, announced a new Sahel Regional Fund which will provide urgent life-saving aid and lasting, dignified solutions to people displaced by conflict and violence in hotspots of humanitarian need in the Sahel region, including Burkina Faso. The UK has committed £33 million to this fund up to 2026. Officials also visited Burkina Faso in January and raised concerns about the security and humanitarian situation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The UK continues to monitor closely the terrorist threat from the Sahel, including from Al Qaeda, and has proscribed the organisation and its associated groups such as Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).

Migration is a permanent feature of the global economy. It is estimated that there are 281 million international migrants globally, accounting for about 3.6% of the global population. Work remains the major reason people migrate internationally, but UNHCR estimate that 100 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced from their homes. In Sub-Saharan Africa including the Sahel, millions of people have been displaced from their homes due to conflict, human rights violations, violence and natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change; the vast majority remain in or near their country of origin. His Majesty’s Government takes a “whole of route” approach to addressing the challenges of illegal migration, recognising that people’s motivations to move can be complex and inter-related. There are a number of drivers for migration and some of those include illegal migration to the UK or other European countries. While the Home Office does monitor trends, there is no plan to commission any new research at this time.

Instability in the Sahel is rising. Partnerships with Wagner Group are counterproductive to long-term stability and we know Wagner Group commits human rights abuses. We are working closely with international partners to counter the malign use of such proxies by Russia and have designated the Wagner Group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin under the Russia Sanctions Regime. UK Ministers have also called for unrestricted access to investigate human rights allegations in Mali and reiterated the importance of compliance with International Humanitarian Law during counterterrorism operations. The UK remains committed to supporting regional security through our humanitarian, development and stabilisation programmes.

The Integrated Review sets out the Government's approach to security, defence, development and foreign policy across the world, including with African countries. In line with current practice, we have no plans at present to publish a written version of an Integrated Review sub-strategy on the Sahel or sub-Saharan Africa. We continue to share information on the implementation of our approach through various channels including speeches, visits, articles and social media. Our vision in Africa remains to promote British interests through partnerships with African countries and institutions that lead to a freer, safer, more prosperous, healthier and greener continent.