Liberia’s entanglement with

AFRICA’S INTERNATIONAL BORDERS AS POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONFLICT
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vulnerable and marginalised border peoples to support what were usually presented as movements for liberation and justice The exploitation of ethnicity and other primordial identities in the execution of West Africa’s regional conflicts once more underscores the disruptiveness of Africa’s artificial boundaries, which have tended to split compatible groups while attempting to force together incompatible ones into Africa’s postcolonial state systems.
What flows from the three case studies examined above is that the regionalisation of conflicts in West Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa has been facilitated by the fluid nature of borders and the fact that weak African states do not seem to have full control over their own territories, which is an essential characteristic of real statehood. The analyses also highlight the fact that ethnic groups split by state boundaries tend to facilitate the transfer of conflicts across boundaries, partly because of the predisposition of these artificially separated groups to embrace and provide sanctuary to their kith and kin as they flee from battle. On the other hand, these supposedly sympathetic peoples in border areas become casualties as governments in their attempts to neutralise rebel elements make cross-border raids and target border populations indiscriminately.
Borders need to be secured and properly controlled to prevent them from serving as havens for radical elements and to avoid innocent border peoples from becoming victims of conflict. Although there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that the proper delimitation and effective demarcation of borders alone will resolve border-related conflicts, it is recognised as being a critical first step. Recognition of this fact has been part of the impulse to craft the AU Border Programme (AUBP), which places particular premium on the proper delimitation and effective demarcation of the continent’s international borders.

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