European Parliament urges inquiry after Al Jazeera Senegal investigation

Investigation revealed that EU-trained Senegalese police meant to tackle cross-border crime worked to quash pro-democracy protests.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has asked the European Commission to open an investigation into the mismanagement of European Union funds in Senegal after a joint investigation between Al Jazeera and porCausa Foundation revealed how an EU-funded cross-border crime unit was used to repress pro-democracy protests in the West African country.

Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, the chair of the LIBE committee, sent the letter to Ylva Johansson, the EU commissioner for home affairs and Juta Urpilainen, the commissioner for international partnerships, on March 25, asking the commission to “make all necessary efforts” so that the allegations are “investigated and full clarity is made on use of EU-funds”.

Aguilar told Al Jazeera and porCausa that there was a big consensus in the parliamentary committee to call for this investigation, adding that “migration is a key issue for the EU”.

The joint investigation, published in February, focused on the Rapid Action Surveillance and Intervention Group, known as GAR-SI – a 74 million euro ($81.3m) funded project by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), implemented by Spanish government development agency FIIAPP between 2017 and 2023.

The project’s stated goal was to create and equip a special intervention unit in the border area between Mali and Senegal to fight armed groups, smuggling, trafficking and other cross-border crimes.