1989 events in Mauritania and Senegal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1989 events were a series of ethnic and political disturbances in Mauritania and Senegal.
In April 1989, a long-standing dispute over the location of the common border in relation to the dividing Senegal river escalated into ethnic violence, which quickly drew both governments into the fray.
Mauritania's south is heavily populated by the Wolof, Soninké and Fula peoples, while the northern Moorish (Arabo-Berber) population has long dominated politics, from pre-colonial slave-taking (with some vestiges of slavery remaining today) to political Arabization and racial discrimination post-independence. In 1989, ethnic tension boiled over, and in the violence that followed, tens of thousands of black Mauritanian southerners fled or were expelled towards Senegal.[1] Some of these refugees remain in refugee camps today, and this is were the armed black nationalist Mauritanian movement FLAM is based. Senegal reciprocated by chasing Moorish citizens from the country, although in lesser numbers.
These expulsions marked a brutal climax in Mauritania's complicated and sometimes violent historical relations between Moors and southerners, and with ethnic tension remaining an important factor in the country today, the 1989 events is an important point of reference in the country's political discourse.
 |
This Mauritania-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This Senegal-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
