North Africa's crises in 2015 claimed over 13,000 deaths, 33,000 arrests, and important infrastructure destruction, says MEA Risk

MIAMI, Jan. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- North Africa, including the Sahel region claimed 13,237 deaths in 2015 from critical incidents, reports MEA Risk LLC, an incident tracking and alerting company. Libya held the highest death toll with 41.6% of the total casualty figure, followed by Egypt with 31%.

Confronted with the rise of terrorism and political dissent, the region's authorities arrested 33,200 people in 2015. Egypt was the most active in arresting militants, political activists and others, accounting for 35% of the region's total. With 18% of the region, Algeria was the second most active country, focusing on terrorism and criminality.

Terrorism has had a devastating impact. Although the terror acts accounted for only 15.9% of all the critical incidents recorded by MEA Risk's Critical Incidents Tracker, they were responsible for almost one third of all the deaths (31%). Government authorities were also responsible for a large share of the losses, accounting for 28.9% of the regional death toll.

Social and human-related crises, from a reduction in personal freedoms to the outbreaks of transmittable diseases, illegal migration, infrastructure collapse, natural disasters, etc., claimed 37.3% of all the deaths in the region. Stress on the social, human and labor fronts skyrocketed as a result of governments focused on enforcement and security and as many countries struggle with subsidy reductions amid the launch of new austerity measures.

"For the year 2016, North Africa will likely evolve in similar set of circumstances considering the following three areas of instability: Lack of a political path in many conflict zones such as Egypt, Libya and Mali; worsening of economic conditions across the entire region, amid low commodity prices and weak global demand, and growing terror risk amid heightening competition between Al-Qaeda and IS (Daesh) over territorial control," says Arezki Daoud, Lead Analyst at MEA Risk LLC.  In the Sahel "the upcoming presidential elections in Niger and Chad represent a likely source of further instability, as the Lake Chad region continues to witness Boko Haram-related violence."

MEA Risk is a company that monitors critical incidents and broadcasts alerts and analyses, providing clients with the ability to remain instantly appraised of risk wherever they operate. Flagship products include Critical Incidents Tracker and Shield & Alert Travel Security Companion. MEA Risk can be reached at US+508-981-6937, [email protected], or via Skype at MEA-Risk.Analysts.

SOURCE MEA Risk LLC