Second group of Mauritanian refugees welcomed home from Senegal

2008-03-17

Ethnic violence forced thousands of Mauritanians out of their homes and into Senegal two decades ago, but the two countries and the UN are working together to bring them back home. After leaving camps across the Senegal River from their homeland last week, the second group of repatriates received a warm welcome in Rosso.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 17/03/08

[Getty Images] Mauritanian refugees wave to a welcoming party as they arrive in Rosso, Mauritania after living in Senegal for nearly two decades. Ethnic violence forced more than 20,000 black Mauritanians into exile.

Within the framework of the human heritage settlement pledged by the Mauritanian government, the second group of Mauritanian refugees was repatriated from Senegal on Thursday (March 13th). The repatriation and reintegration agreement ended twenty years of exile for many of the 24,000 Mauritanians living in the north of Senegal.

Amid joyous cheers at realising their homecoming dream, 257 people from 61 families disembarked ferries at the Mauritanian border town of Rosso after crossing the river from four refugee camps in Senegal. Mauritanian officials and representatives of domestic and international human rights organisations held a welcoming ceremony for the repatriates. Music, dancing, trills of joy and applause echoed all around as well-wishers gathered to greet them.

Refugees expressed their delight at finally returning home and indicated their appreciation of the political effort to heal wounds and bolster national unity. "I eagerly look forward to rebuilding my life on the land of my ancestors," said 38-year-old Amado Sow after the official ceremony. "My four children were born in the north of the Senegal. Nonetheless, they are overjoyed today at seeing their homeland welcome them so warmly," he added.

Within days, the newly-arrived group will be provided with new national documents and transported to their original home regions, particularly in the southern part of Mauritania. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will then work on integrating repatriates back into a population mostly dependent on farming and livestock.

The refugee crisis began in 1989 after a political row between Mauritanian President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya and Senegalese President Abdou Diouf escalated into ethnic violence. The rupture resulted in the deportation of all blacks to either Senegal or Mali, especially those that did not speak Arabic, under the pretext that they were not Mauritanian. Additionally, hundreds of Mauritanians living in Senegal were attacked.

"I am a Mauritanian, and was displaced to Senegal during the painful ordeal the two countries went through in 1989," one refugee told Magharebia. "I committed no crime to have my identity taken away from me and be thrown in exile."

In June 2007, newly-elected Mauritanian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi invited all remaining refugees to return home in order to fulfil his election campaign pledge of national reconciliation. He offered an official apology to the displaced blacks for the suffering inflicted upon them in the late eighties and early nineties and called on citizens to "organise a popular reception ceremony for their deported fellow citizens upon their return to the homeland."

Six months later, delegates of Senegal and Mauritania met under the auspices of the UNHCR and approved a timeframe for the refugees' repatriation. The first 101 came home last month.

All returnees to Mauritania receive an assistance package which includes kitchen sets, blankets, buckets, mosquito nets, soap and sanitary kits. They are also given a three-month food ration from the UN World Food Program (WFP). After three months, the Mauritanian government’s National Agency to Welcome and Repatriate Refugees (ANAIR) will take over the support.

In the areas to which refugees are returning, reintegration projects are also under way in the health, water and education sectors, officials said.