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France has informed activist Nathalie Yamb of its ban on entry and stay on French territory. In a decree, issued on January 12, 2022, the French authorities accuse him of stirring up anti-French sentiment on the African continent and of making virulent remarks against France. A measure taken against the backdrop of rivalries between France and Russia on the African continent, but which is not unanimous.
Very present on social networks for fifteen years, this 53-year-old Swiss-Cameroonian activist really stood out in October 2019, on the occasion of the first Russia-Africa summit organized in Sochi. That day, she very openly targeted France which, she said, ” still considers the African continent as its property “. From there, her pan-African, anti-imperialist speech and her outings against France, which she accuses of neo-colonialism, will find a certain echo on the continent.
« Relay of Russian propaganda on the African continent »
« Nathalie Yamb, very active on the networks, is a relay of Russian propaganda on the African continent and who participates in the dissemination of false information, undoubtedly for personal interests, by making very virulent remarks against France in Africa, including encouraging the use of violence “, affirms the deputy Thomas Gassilloud, president of the defense commission of the National Assembly, who ” therefore fully supports this ban on residence ” in France.
For researcher Maxime Audinet, a specialist in the strategy of Russian influence in Africa, Nathalie Yamb has effectively become one of the actors in the struggle between Paris and Moscow. ” He is a militant figure who claims to be a radical pan-Africanist and who, because of his positions hostile to the French presence, has been co-opted by a whole network of Russian actors, in particular what is called the Prigojine galaxy, that is to say a set of organizations, foundations, media that are linked to Evgueni Prigojine, the famous sponsor of the Wagner group. I am thinking in particular of the moment when in December 2019, Nathalie Yamb was invited by the Foundation for the Defense of National Values [organisation russe, proche du Kremlin, NDLR], but also co-opted by a group called Afric “, he explains.
The French authorities notified the Swiss-Cameroonian activist Nathalie Yamb of their ban on entry and stay on French territory by registered letter sent on Friday October 14, following a decree issued on January 12, 2022 and which RFI was able to consult. Paris criticizes Nathalie Yamb in particular for encouraging the use of violence against symbols of the French presence in Africa.
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A bad method, however, believes Me William Bourdon, lawyer, specialist in civil liberties: “ This is not how we are going to put an end to Francophobic inflation in West Africa, [région] who is paying dearly for a policy that has been deaf and blind to so many concerns. This decision reflects a stiffening of the French authorities which can only be interpreted as a headlong rush. »
Disinformation
Her fight against Paris and her supporters in Africa, she leads it today from Switzerland, after being expelled from Côte d’Ivoire in December 2019, accused of “carrying out activities incompatible with the national interest”. Followed by more than 200,000 people on Twitter and on YouTube, Nathalie Yamb is today regularly accused by her detractors of driving for Moscow. In the decree issued on January 12 by the French Ministry of the Interior, it is also written that ” beyond its Francophobic stance, [Nathalie Yamb] also relays pro-Russian propaganda broadcast from the African continent “. The document also points the finger at its ” closeness with Maurice Wilfried Sebiro, communication advisor to the Central African presidency » et « main craftsman of anti-French propaganda in Bangui “, the capital of the Central African Republic where the Russian mercenaries of Wagner are also present.
« On her own networks, Nathalie Yamb develops a discourse that sometimes tends to serve the discourse of Russia on her own agenda, observe Maxime Audinet. During the Boutcha massacre in Ukraine and Moura in Mali, Nathalie Yamb tweeted at the time about these two events, presenting them both as stagings fomented by Westerners to discredit Russia on the one hand, and on the other, the Malian authorities, even Wagner’s mercenaries. “Because beyond the ideological positions of Nathalie Yamb, it is indeed disinformation which is at the heart of the decision of Paris:” I think this decision shows that France has fully integrated the importance of information in crisis resolution. This new step makes it possible to indicate to those who unfairly spread false information against France that these acts cannot go unpunished. concludes Thomas Gassilloud.
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Still, for Me Bourdon, these positions do not justify the measure taken, which could even prove to be counterproductive. “ If we start to use in France – and this seems worrying and unprecedented to me – this regime to banish anyone from entering French territory on the grounds that they are making very harsh comments against French policy in Africa, (…) this can only play into the hands of those who can sow trouble and disorder by activating anti-French remarks. »