Dorsum – The Ethnopolitcal Blog Worldwide Ethnopolitical Analyses
The Tuareg are primarily nomadic or semi-nomadic. They inhabit the arid and semi-arid regions of the Sahara and sub-Saharan Africa, stretching across Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Libya.
The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law, meaning that all peoples should be free to choose their own country. Unfortunately, many of today’s borders date back to the colonial era and were often drawn by European colonial powers. This is also true of the Tuareg, who live in countries that were ruled by the French for two centuries or more. During this period, these territories belonged to the same empire, and people could move more or less freely across the borders that now separate the nations.
The partition of the Tuareg’s living environment
After independence, the territories of former colonies such as Niger, Algeria and Mali became independent nations, with little consideration given to their internal ethnic structure. In this way, ethnic minorities such as the Tuareg were divided by new borders. As nomadic or semi-nomadic people, the Tuareg could no longer travel freely through their lands. It is important to remember that their environment is very arid, and the Tuareg are forced to follow the rain in order to find pasture for their cattle.
The Tuareg population is estimated to number around 2 million, with around 750,000 living in Niger and 550,000 in Mali. It is estimated that there are 40,000 Tuareg in Algeria, not including around 100,000 refugees from Mali and Niger. The same number is officially estimated to live in Burkina Faso. There are no reliable figures for Libya and other West African francophone countries.
Prior to the independence of African countries, the Tuareg were organised into ‘confederations’ and traditionally lived in a clearly hierarchical society1.
The curse of natural resources
Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger ‘inherited’ Tuareg-inhabited regions from the French, along with the natural resources of these lands. Needless to say, the central governments have no interest in granting the Tuareg autonomy or even freedom. Uranium is Niger’s main export2, accounting for up to 80% of its exports. In southern Algeria, gas and oil fields are exploited by the government and international oil and gas companies. As well as resources of international interest and value, there are also local resources that are becoming scarce. The Sahel is probably becoming drier due to climate change, which is making pastureland scarcer and leading to competition for land between the Tuareg and other ethnic groups.
Conflicts
Since the 1990s, the Tuareg have been demanding concrete political and institutional rights. Marginalised and underrepresented by the dominant Bambara and Djerma peoples in Mali and Niger respectively, the Tuareg began to revolt. In 1991 and again in 1997/98, Tuareg resistance against the authorities intensified. They demanded federalism, greater autonomy, and ultimately, secession. A new movement began in early 2007 with the foundation of the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), which revived the issues of the 1990s. They fought for a greater share in uranium extraction, comprehensive development programmes, and federalism. In 2012, the situation in Mali escalated when the newly formed National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) drove the Malian army out of northern Mali and declared independence for the region, establishing a new state called Azawad.
The situation of the Tuareg in Mali and Niger is urgent and requires immediate attention. Solutions are needed that address the political, administrative, economic and cultural issues faced by ethnic groups of multiple nationalities living within the same state and those displaced across several states3
Footnotes:
1,2,3: Mohand Salah Tari: http://www.amazighworld.org/studies/articles/forgotten_poeple.php
