Senegal hosted more than 40,000 refugees at the end of 1997, including an estimated 40,000 from Mauritania and about 1,000 from other countries. About 7,000 Senegalese were refugees at year's end, including about 4,000 in Guinea-Bissau and nearly 3,000 in Gambia. More than 10,000 Senegalese were believed to be internally displaced. Uprooted Senegalese A long-simmering separatist war in southern Senegal's Casamance region flared in 1991-92. Historically, many residents of Casamance, Senegal's main rice-growing region, have complained that the country's economic policies have deprived their region. The violence uprooted more than 40,000 persons by 1993. A 1993 cease-fire was incomplete, and clashes in 1995 killed scores of Senegalese soldiers and rebels. Renewed clashes in 1997, especially late in the year, killed combatants and civilians and prompted new refugee flight and internal displacement. "A renewal of fightingŠcaused many civilians to flee their villages," the U.S. Department of State reported. An estimated 10,000 or more Senegalese were internally displaced by year's end. The Senegalese Red Cross and ICRC provided food and medicine to some of the displaced. UNHCR reported that increasing insecurity in Casamance, including the first reported use of landmines in the region, led to new refugee flight to Gambia and Guinea-Bissau in late 1997. The agency said that while some of the newly arrived refugees remained in exile, many returned to Casamance after only a few days or weeks. The insecurity that prevailed at year's end, however, signaled a serious deterioration in the peace process. Refugees from Mauritania Most of the estimated 40,000 Mauritanian refugees in Senegal were expelled from their homes in 1989-90 by Mauritanian authorities who claimed the refugees were Senegalese, rather than Mauritanian, citizens. Senegal has not granted them full refugee status. A June 1995 census estimated that about 65,000 Mauritanian refugees were then in Senegal. Spontaneous repatriation has since reduced that population to about 40,000 at the end of 1997, with about 5,000 Mauritanians returning during the year, UNHCR reported. Most remaining refugees have settled in more than 200 sites stretching 600 km along the Senegal River, which forms the border with Mauritania. Several thousand refugees have reportedly migrated to other parts of Senegal. Food assistance to the refugees ended in early 1996. Despite the return of thousands of refugees to Mauritania, some refugees in Senegal have indicated they would return only if UNHCR directly supervised an organized repatriation program and provided reintegration assistance, and if the Mauritanian government promised them citizenship and compensation for their losses. Although UNHCR assisted returnees in Mauritania in 1997, Mauritania continued to insist on a case-by-case review of citizenship status. Returnees have had mixed success in reclaiming their land and acquiring papers documenting their citizenship, according to UNHCR and the U.S. Department of State.
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