Mauritania–Senegal Border War
Mauritania–Senegal Border War | |||||||
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NASA image of the Senegal River valley: Mauritania is located to the north and Senegal is located to south. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
FLAM | Mauritania | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Abdou Diouf | Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
10,000[1] | 10,000[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Hundreds dead | Hundreds dead | ||||||
250,000 displaced |
The Mauritania–Senegal Border War was a conflict fought between the
Background
Ethnic history of Senegal River region
The Senegal River basin between Mauritania and Senegal has for centuries been inhabited by both black populations, such as the
Political and economic factors
In the years leading up to the war, Senegal experienced serious economic instability and political unrest. Economic repercussions of recent drought in the region, along with the implementation of
Mauritania's attempts at land reform in 1983 strengthened the role of the state while undermining traditional agriculture, worsening the problems of many farmers on both sides of the border. These ordinances passed in Mauritania authorized the central government to expropriate land in the southern region of the country, which was mainly occupied by racially black Mauritanians, and allot the land to Beydan Mauritanians in the north.[3] Disputes over which country controlled the land on either side of the Senegal River, as well as which ethnic groups held grazing rights for the land, persisted throughout the decade.
Mauritania and Senegal shared strong economic ties, both
Natural resources
Deterioration of relations
Both Mauritania and Senegal are former French colonies; however, since Mauritania's independence, many members of the Mauritanian government have sought to reinforce the Arab identity of the state, including the strengthening of ties with the Arab world. At the time of the conflict, the Mauritanian government was divided into two political factions: the "Baathists", backed by Iraq, and the "Naseerites", who politically supported Libya. Senegal, in comparison, remained attached to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, resulting in increasingly divergent foreign policies in the two countries.[3]
All of these factors led to a deterioration in relations between Mauritania and Senegal, with both countries hardening their stances against each other with each further incident. This created an explosive situation that was stirred up by both countries' domestic news media, which focused heavily on the ethnic dimensions to the conflict.[7]
Conflict
Border violence and ethnic clashes
On 8 April 1989, there was a clash between Senegalese Soninke farmers and Mauritanian Fulani herdsmen in Mauritania over grazing rights in Diawara, a town in the Bakel Department of eastern Senegal. This event marked the beginning of the conflict. The clash took place because the Senegalese herdsmen confiscated a herd of cattle belonging to the Mauritanian farmers after the cattle migrated into Senegalese territory. The confiscation of the cattle was in accordance with an earlier agreement made between Senegal and Mauritania over grazing rights and territorial control. Despite this, Mauritanian border guards intervened after spotting a group of Senegalese farmers who had crossed into Mauritanian controlled territory. The border guards fired at the group, killing at least two Senegalese peasants, as well as seriously injuring several more, and taking between 12 and 15 Senegalese farmers hostage. Official reports of the incident from Senegal and Mauritania provide conflicting details, as the Senegalese government claims the attackers were border guards, and the Mauritanian government claims the attackers were Mauritanian farmers.[3][8]
The Mauritanian Interior Minister, Djibril Ould Abdoullahi, traveled to Dakar, Senegal a few days after the attack to speak on Senegalese television. Abdoullahi made comments about the importance of the event, which many Senegalese citizens interpreted as discounting the severity of the event and making light of those who died.[9]
As a result of the 8 April attack and the subsequent comments by Abdoullahi, Senegalese citizens on the southern bank rioted, escalating the conflict. Between April 21–24, 1989, Senegalese mobs looted and burned shops owned by Mauritanian traders in Dakar, killing 61 Mauritanians. On 25 April, Mauritanian soldiers and border guards in Southern Mauritania retaliated by beating to death at least 200 Senegalese citizens in an event now referred to as 'Black Tuesday'. The violence between April 21–25, led to a mass exodus of refugees from both sides.[9]
Between April 27–29, Senegalese citizens orchestrated attacks against individual Mauritanians living in Dakar, leading to the deaths of at least 50 Mauritanians. Simultaneously in Mauritania, Arab Moors attacked and killed individual Senegalese nationals and even some black Mauritanians. Both countries deployed their armies internally to control the violence and both governments implemented curfews.[3][9]
On 21 August 1989, the border was closed, and diplomatic relations between Mauritania and Senegal came to an end.[10]
Repatriation and expulsion
In late April, both governments began the process of repatriating foreign nationals from each country. With assistance from the governments of France, Spain, Algeria, and Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal returned approximately 250,000 refugees to their country of origin.[3][8] Approximately 75,000 Senegalese nationals returned to Senegal and 170,000 Mauritanian nationals returned to Mauritania.[9] In some cases, individuals who were repatriated had no links to the country to which they were repatriated, as they had lived outside of their home country for so long. During this process, the Mauritanian government also expelled many black Mauritanian citizens under the guise of refugee repatriation. These Mauritanian citizens were sent to Senegal without any way of returning to Mauritania.[6]
Mediation efforts
Following the mass-repatriation and expulsion, the situation seemed temporarily under control. Violence decreased, but the tensions between the two countries remained. Mediation efforts by the Maghreb Union, Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Guinea, Gambia, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, France, Egypt, Morocco, and the United Nations all failed to help both sides reach an agreement.[3][11]
In September 1989, Egyptian president and newly elected chairman of the OAU, Hosni Mubarak, held a mediatory meeting between representatives from Senegal and Mauritania. The Mauritanian officials argued that hundreds of thousands of Mauritanians were being held hostage in Senegal and that Mauritanians were owed compensation for the massive amounts of goods they owned that were looted and destroyed by the Senegalese. The Senegalese representatives argued that the Mauritanian government had expelled a large number of black Mauritanian nationals to Senegal during the repatriation process. They also argued that the true border between the countries lay north of the river, according to a 1933 French colonial decree, and that Senegalese citizens were owed compensation for their goods destroyed by Mauritanians. The issues of compensation and the location of the border were the most important to each side and were also the most inflexible of all the issues. The two sides failed to reach a compromise.[3]
Military engagement
On October 24, 1989, there was a direct military engagement between the official militaries of Mauritania and Senegal, the first since the beginning of the conflict in April. In November 1989, the government of Iraq supplied Mauritania with a large quantity of weapons and over 30 military advisors. The government of Syria supplied Mauritania with a radar system. These additions allowed Mauritania to significantly increase its military operations. On January 6, 1990, both armies engaged in a heavy artillery battle near the village of Doundou, Senegal.[9][11] Fighting continued in short bursts until the summer of 1991.[3]
Senegalese military forces fought alongside the African Liberation Forces of Mauritania (FLAM), a militant organization of exiled black Mauritanians based in Senegal. FLAM heavily recruited black Mauritanians who had been exiled by Mauritania during the refugee repatriation process.[3]
Aftermath
In July 1991, presidents Abdou Diouf and Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya reached an agreement to end hostilities. On 18 July, Senegal and Mauritania signed a peace treaty, ending the Mauritania–Senegal Border War. On May 2, 1992, the border reopened to civilians.[10]
In terms of domestic politics in Senegal, the conflict may have contributed to the rise of the PDS and Abdoulaye Wade due to the then governments inability to deal with the social crisis caused by the influx of vast numbers of refugees. Senegal was further undermined by its neighbors following the war, with problems arising over the demarcation of the border with Guinea-Bissau in the wake of the conflict, and difficulties with the Gambia leading to the dissolution of the Senegambia Confederation in 1989. The period of conflict has also had a lasting impact on relations between Mauritania and Senegal as well as domestic perceptions of each other.
As of May 2014, approximately 16,000 black Mauritanian refugees still live in Senegal, despite the United Nations officially closing Mauritanian refugee camps in Senegal. The majority of these 16,000 refugees have chosen to stay in Senegal following a recent United Nations-led voluntary repatriation of approximately 25,000 Mauritanians. The refugees remaining in Senegal have cited their access to healthcare and education, as well as fear of ethnic persecution in Mauritania, as the reasons for staying. The government of Mauritania has since recognized the Mauritanian citizenship of all Mauritanian refugees in Senegal and has agreed to their repatriation on a case-by-case basis, but the remaining refugees choose not to return. In May 2014, thousands of these remaining Mauritanian refugees marched approximately 300 km (186 mi) to Nouakchott, Mauritania and demanded the return of, or compensation for, property seized by the Mauritanian government after the initial refugee repatriation in 1989. The refugees and their demands were not welcomed by the Mauritanian government. The refugees returned to Senegal without compensation.[12]
References
- ^ a b Rone Tempest (3 June 1989). "In Senegal and Mauritania, Ethnic Conflict Rages Amid Talk of War". LA Times. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-540-68487-9, retrieved 2023-04-30
- ^ . Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- ^ King, Stephen J. (26 August 2021). "Ending Hereditary Slavery in Mauritania: Bidan (Whites) and Black "Slaves" in 2021". Arab Reform Initiative.
- . Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ^ a b c Fall, Aziz Salmone (March 26, 2010). "Conflict in the Senegal River Valley". Cultural Survival.
- ISBN 979-10-92046-36-6, retrieved 2023-04-23
- ^ a b Hall, Michael R. (2011). Mauritania-Senegal Border War (1989-1991). In A. Mikaberidze (Ed.), Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia (pp. 565-566). ABC-CLIO.
- ^ S2CID 154799500.
- ^ a b "Communal Violence in Mauritania and Senegal 1989-1992". Climate Diplomacy. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56802-825-5.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ Mauritanian refugees refuse to leave Senegal, retrieved 2023-04-30