Mauritania-Senegal Border War
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Category:Wars involving ...
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|date= [[April 1989]]-[[July 18]], [[1991]]
|place=[[West Africa]]
|casus=Killing of two Senegalese peasants by Mauritanian border guards
|territory=
|result=Mauritania and Senegal agree to reopen the border and end skirmishes
|combatant1={{flagicon|Senegal}} [[Senegal|Republic of Senegal]]
|combatant2={{flagicon|Mauritania}} [[Mauritania|Islamic Republic of Mauritania]]
|strength1=[[Senegal]] unknown
|strength2=[[Mauritania]] unknown
|Commanders1=<br>
|Commanders2=<br>
|casualties1=Senegal dead: hundreds
|casualties2=Mauritania dead: hundreds
}}
The '''Mauritania-Senegal Border War''' was a conflict fought between the [[West Africa]]n countries of [[Mauritania]] and [[Senegal]] during [[1989]]-[[1991]]. The conflict began around the two countries' [[River Senegal]] border, over [[grazing rights]].
==Background==
The [[Politics of Mauritania|Mauritanian Government]] had a recent history of discriminating against [[Toucouleur]]s and [[Soninke people]] within its borders. One such example occurred in [[1987]], when the government imprisoned southerners and threw others out of the army.
==Conflict==
In [[April 1989]], the dispute over grazing rights led Mauritanian [[Moorish]] border guards to fire at and kill two Senegalese peasants.<ref name=ow>{{cite web |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/sat/senegal/fsenegalmauritania1989.htm |title= Mauitanian-Senegalese Border War 1989-1991 |accessdate=2007-11-23 |format= |work=OnWar.com |date=2000-12-16}}</ref> As a result, people on the Senegalese southern bank [[riot]]ed. In Senegal, where many shopkeepers were Mauritanian, shops were [[looting|looted]] and most Mauritanians were expelled to Mauritania. In Mauritania, [[lynch mob]]s and [[police brutality]] ended in the forced [[exile]] of about 70,000 southerners to Senegal, despite most of them having no links to the country. About 250,000 people fled their homes as both sides engaged in cross-border raids.<ref name=ow/> Hundreds of people died in both countries.<ref>{{cite news |title= New cattle migration accord cools long-standing flashpoint |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=58931 |work=IRIN news |publisher=[[IRIN]] |date=2006-05-05 |accessdate=2007-11-23 }}</ref>
With the departure of most Mauritanians from Senegal, the riots ended, but Mauritania's government under [[Ould Taya]] continued [[racist]] campaigns against southerners he described as [[black]] [[African]]s (as opposed to [[Arab]] Moors). The [[Organisation of African Unity]] tried to negotiate a settlement to reopen the border, but it was ultimately an initiative of Senegalese President [[Abdou Diouf]] which led to a [[treaty]] being signed on [[July 18]], [[1991]].
==Refugee repatriation==
In June 2007, the Mauritanian government under President [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]] asked the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR) to help it repatriate black Mauritanians who had been forced out in the war and were living in refugee camps in [[Mali]] and Senegal. According to UNHRC estimates, there were 20000 refugees in Senegal and 6000 in Mali as of July 2007.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Refugees cautiously optimistic about new initiative |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/80a1227bcead90f0fa18ea0cb1fb8fc0.htm |work= IRIN news |publisher= Reuters Foundation |date=2007-07-10 |accessdate=2007-11-23 }}</ref>
==See also==
[[1989 events in Mauritania and Senegal]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:20th century conflicts]]
[[Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa]]
[[Category:Wars involving Senegal]]
[[Category:Wars involving Mauritania]]
[[fr:Conflit sénégalo-mauritanien]]