U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1997 - Mauritania

Some 65,000 Mauritanians were refugees at the end of 1996, including about 50,000 in Senegal and approximately 15,000 in Mali. An estimated 15,000 refugees from Mali were living in Mauritania. Mauritanian Refugees Ethnic conflict in Mauritania during 1989-90 culminated in the government's expulsion of approximately 75,000 black Mauritanians from the country. An additional 15,000 or so nomadic Mauritanians who were in Mali at the time of the upheaval were also barred from returning to Mauritania. Mauritanian authorities claimed that the refugee populations were not Mauritanian citizens. Human rights organizations charged that Mauritanian leaders – predominantly fair-skinned, Arabic-speaking "Moors" – were seeking to purge their country's black population and were confiscating vacant property left behind by the refugees. Mauritanian politicians regularly have exploited racial tensions, and credible reports of slavery and harassment of black Mauritanians have surfaced. An estimated 25,000 to 35,000 Mauritanian refugees have returned to Mauritania since 1992, including up to 15,000 in 1996. The populations of entire villages have returned, in some cases. The majority of Mauritanians in Senegal, however, have indicated that they would repatriate only if the government of Mauritania guaranteed their citizenship, provided compensation for losses, and allowed UNHCR to mount an organized repatriation program with safeguards to protect returnees. Mauritanian officials have refused to acknowledge blanket citizenship for the entire refugee population. The government insisted that it would evaluate citizenship on a case-by-case basis. The government has gradually increased UNHCR's access to returnee areas since 1995. UNHCR and government officials cooperated on the issuance of identity cards to returnees during 1996, and authorities have reportedly allowed some returnees to reclaim their land and possessions. Malian Refugees Tens of thousands of Malian refugees fled to Mauritania in 1991, seeking protection from violence linked to an insurgency in northern Mali. The refugees included ethnic Tuaregs and ethnic Moors. Much of the refugee population consisted of traditionally nomadic peoples. UNHCR and the governments of Mauritania and Mali signed a tripartite agreement in mid-1994 laying the groundwork for the refugees' return to Mali. Renewed violence in Mali, however, produced an influx of 30,000 new refugees to Mauritania in 1994 and delayed large-scale repatriation. Peaceful conditions in Mali permitted UNHCR to begin an organized repatriation program in late 1995. Some 7,000 returned that year, including 1,000 who participated in the organized return program. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 refugees repatriated from Mauritania during 1996. Authorities announced that the main refugee camp, Mberra, would close in mid-1997. The camp contained 10,000 refugees, located in the remote southeast corner of Mauritania, some 800 miles from the capital.
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