Mauritanians in Senegal

Mauritanians in Senegal

Regions with significant populations
Northern Senegal (esp. Dagana, Podor, Matam, and Bakel)[1]

There is a large community of Mauritanians in Senegal, including tens of thousands of black Mauritanians expelled by their own government during a 1989 border incident.

Migration history

In early 1989, tensions arose between Mauritania and Senegal due to conflicts over water resources in the Sénégal River valley. As a result, white Mauritanian Moors in the Senegalese capital Dakar became the targets of communal violence, while in Mauritania itself, black Mauritanians came under suspicion as "Senegalese fifth columnists".^[2] To prevent further violence, the governments of Mauritania and Senegal began to organise mutual repatriations of their citizens from each other's territories in April that year; however, Mauritania did not just remove Senegalese citizens, but an estimated 70,000 black Mauritanians as well.^[3] Those expelled were largely of Halpuular ethnicity.^[4] The border between the two countries would not be reopened until April 1992.^[5]

Repatriation began slowly after the reopening of the border. Refugees returning to Trarza and Brakna generally found conditions to be good, but those going back to Gorgol and Guidimaka complained of continued discrimination by local authorities.^[6]

Footnotes

1. ^ Stone 2005, p. 7
2. ^ Stone 2005, p. 6
3. ^ Stone 2005, p. 7
4. ^ Marty 2003, p. 497
5. ^ El Yessa 2009, p. 10
6. ^ El Yessa 2009, p. 11

Bibliography

• El Yessa, Abderrahman (2009), Le retour des réfugiés mauritaniens au Sénégal et au Mali, vingt ans après la crise de 1989, CARIM Rapports de recherche, Consortium Euro-Mediterraneen pour la recherche appliquee sur les migrations internationales, http://cadmus.eui.eu/dspace/bitstream/1814/10794/1/CARIM_RR_2009_11.pdf 
• Marty, Marianne (2003), "Sociologie politique d'un mouvement de réfugiés: les réfugiés halpulaaren mauritaniens au Sénégal", in Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine; Goerg, Odile; Mandé, Issiaka et al., Politiques migratoires et construction des identités, Être étranger et migrant en Afrique au XXe siècle, 1, Harmattan, pp. 497–518, ISBN 9782747553391 
• Stone, David (June 2005), Enhancing livelihood security among Mauritanian refugees in Northern Senegal: a case study, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, OCLC 74115297, http://www.unhcr.org/publ/RESEARCH/42bbcb702.pdf 

Further reading

• Fresia, Marion (2005), L'humanitaire en contexte: pratiques, discours et vécus des mauritaniens réfugiés au Sénégal, Ph.D. dissertation, Paris: École des hautes études en sciences sociales, OCLC 492686322 
• Hagen, Erik (May 2005), Contested transnationalism among Mauritanian deportees in Senegal, M.A. dissertation, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, OCLC 292368982, http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/iss/2005/27745/senegal.pdf 
• Leservoisier, Olivier (1999), "Black Mauritanian refugees in the Senegal River Valley", in Lassailly-Jacob, Veronique; Marchal, Jean-Yves; Quesnel, Andre, Déplacës et réfugiés: la mobilité sous contrainte, IRD Editions, ISBN 9782709914284 

External links

• Réfugiés négro-mauritaniens au Sénégal, a photo exhibition by Elodie Perriot