Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NIAMEY1190
2006-10-25 15:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Niamey
Cable title:  

NIGER: GOVERNMENT MOVES TO EXPEL NOMADIC ARABS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PSEC PBTS PREF PREL PTER SMIG SOCI 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #1190/01 2981557
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251557Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3033
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 1482
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0469
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001190 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/W FOR BACHMAN & HEFLIN; AF/FO FOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD; PRM
FOR GREENE; PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PSEC PBTS PREF PREL PTER SMIG SOCI
KCRM, NG
SUBJECT: NIGER: GOVERNMENT MOVES TO EXPEL NOMADIC ARABS

REF: NIAMEY 904

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4(B)

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SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001190

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/W FOR BACHMAN & HEFLIN; AF/FO FOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD; PRM
FOR GREENE; PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PSEC PBTS PREF PREL PTER SMIG SOCI
KCRM, NG
SUBJECT: NIGER: GOVERNMENT MOVES TO EXPEL NOMADIC ARABS

REF: NIAMEY 904

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4(B)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Since the evening of Tuesday, October 25, BBC Africa
service has been reporting on an attempt by Government of
Niger (GON) authorities to expel an uncertain number of
nomadic Arabs known as "Mahamid Arabs" from the Chadian
border region in the country's extreme east (Diffa region,
near Lake Chad). On Tuesday evening, the GON's Minister of
the Interior, Mounkaila Modi, issued an official statement on
the expulsions, noting that Mahamids would be required to
leave the country within five days. BBC reports further
indicated that "several hundred" Mahamids had been rounded up
by the Gendarmerie (Nigerien paramilitary police) in the
village of Kabelawa, 75km east of Diffa. Spokesmen for the
Mahamid community responded on Wednesday, denouncing the
decision and stating that they would challenge it in
parliament and the courts. Many Mahamids are reported to be
citizens of Niger. A prior attempt to expel them in 2002 came
to nothing. Niger Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou
convoked Ambassadors and Charges at 14:50 local on Wednesday
to explain the GON's justifications for the move. The
Consular section has taken steps to contact Amcits in the
region and ensure their security. NOTE: While BBC reports
suggested that there were roughly 150,000 Mahamid Arabs in
Niger, post's own estimates and those of local media suggest
that the number ranges from 17,000 to 50,000. END NOTE END
SUMMARY


2. (U) On the evening of the 24th October, GON Interior
Minister Mounkaila Modi issued a statement regarding the
Mahamid Arabs. Modi noted that the Mahamid Arabs had fled

conflict in their home country, Chad, and taken refuge in
eastern Niger. However, they had now become a security and
environmental threat for Niger. Modi noted that, since their
arrival in Niger, the Mahamids had been in conflict with
local populations over watering holes and grazing areas.
Several Nigerien citizens had been killed in these conflicts.
The Minister stated that Mahamids illegally owned firearms
and had used them in disputes with Nigeriens. Mahamid
livestock, allegedly numbering in the hundreds of thousands,
were taxing the Diffa region's scarce pasturage and water
resources, and destroying the local ecosystem.


3. (U) Private radio station Anfani broadcast excerpts from
statements by Niamey based Mahamid leaders on October 25. The
Mahamid leaders, who were reportedly in discussions with the
GON, denounced the expulsion order as "thoughtless and
ill-inspired," and suggested that it would have "dangerous
consequences," and could create a "large-scale conflict."
They stated that Niger was violating the provisions of the AU
Charter and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. The
representatives claimed that theirs was a community of "tens
of thousands" of nomadic Arabs who came to Niger from Chad in
two waves, during the famines of the late 1960s, and the
early 1980s. They claimed that, since their arrival in Niger,
they had duly registered with Nigerien authorities, paid
their taxes, and received other Nigerien legal documents. The
leaders noted that most Mahamids know little of Chad, as they
have been born and raised in Niger. They noted that some
neighboring groups like the Toubou and Mober also came from
Chad, though many centuries earlier.


4. (U) The Mahamid leaders argued that it would be
practically impossible for the GON to chase them all down,
given their numbers and the dispersion of their population
and flocks. More ominously, they suggested that, were the GON
to proceed with this plan, it would have to use force, as the
community would resist and "oppose violence to violence." On
a more moderate note, National Assembly Deputy Sileyman Ben
Hameda, who represents many Mahamid Arabs in his Diffa
constituency, stated that he and other National Assembly
members would challenge the GON's expulsion order in court
and in the legislature. Post believes that these members
might convoke Interior Minister Modi and demand an
explanation of this order.


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THE FM BRIEFS DIP. CORPS
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NIAMEY 00001190 002 OF 002




5. (C) Convoked by GON MFA Mindaoudou on the afternoon of the
25th, Ambassadors and Charges were treated to a fuller
explanation of the GON's actions. In contrast to Interior
Minister Modi's emphasis on crime and conflict, the FM
emphasized the strain that the Mahamid Arabs' herds put on
the pasturage and water table of the arid Diffa region. She
noted that, when the Arabs first came, they had few animals.
The GON had welcomed them as famine refugees and allowed them
to stay. By the late 1990s the herds had grown to the point
where they came into frequent conflict with local herders and
farmers. These groups, along with the NGOs and religious
leaders who represent them, first petitioned the GON to
resolve this issues in 1999. At that time, the Minister
noted, the GON declined to act against the Mahamid Arabs as
there was "no durable solution" to their plight. FM stated
that the GON was not clear on the number of persons to be
expelled, or the timetable for the expulsion. She suggested
that two weeks might be more reasonable than five days, but
that the GON was "studying" the modalities. The FM stated
that none of the persons being considered for expulsion were
Nigerien citizens, and that the GON would never expel
citizens. NOTE: Under Nigerien law, citizenship derives from
birth in the country provided that at least one parent is a
Nigerien citizen. END NOTE.


6. (C) The Chadian Ambassador appeared taken aback by these
revelations, and asked why the Governments of Chad and Sudan,
as the countries of origin, had not been consulted. He
further noted that, were his government involved, it would
contribute to a more orderly and humane transfer. Mindaoudou
replied that the matter was an internal one, but that the GON
would work with neighboring countries to ensure that the
process was an "orderly, dignified action." Mindaoudou
repeatedly emphasized that this action was not directed
against Arabs per se, only against the nomadic Mahamid Arabs
whose "large herds" were causing hardships for Nigerien
herders and farmers. She touched on the issue of banditry and
crime, but, with representatives of the Ministry of Land
Management at her side, seemed more inclined to emphasize the
natural resource limitations as motivations for the decision.
While the FM closed the session with many questions left
unanswered, she offered the curious observation that this was
a "regional administrative decision."

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COMMENT
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7. (C) Post is unsure of the cause and timing of the
expulsion order. The notion that it was made by regional
officials in Diffa without the full concurrence of the
Minister of the Interior and the President of Niger is
inconceivable, given Niger's highly centralized
administration. While the Governor of Diffa reportedly
informed the Mahamid Arabs of the decision, it is unlikely
that he made it himself. It appears that the GON may be
trying to pass the buck out of Niamey. Moreover, while the
Ambassador and Poloff have made several visits to the Diffa
region since spring 2005, we have never heard any local
contact raise the issue of the Mahamid Arabs; a fact that
belies the GON's contention that this has been a hot issue
for the locals and their leaders since the 1990s.


8. (C) Causality remains uncertain - as does the legal and
logistical ability of the GON to implement its decision. With
respect to the former, the GON may posit some sort of
connection between the Mahamid community and the recent
up-tick in banditry and violence in the area over the last
few months (reftel). They may suspect a linkage between the
Mahamids and Chadian rebels / bandits. Alternatively, they
may wish to appease the neighboring Toubou community after
recent rumblings of discontent - including the suggestion
that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahel (FARS),a
Toubou rebel group from the 1990s, was making a
re-appearance. All in all, mounting anxiety over the
combination of porous borders, banditry, arms and cigarette
smuggling, and inter-ethnic tension may have contributed to a
rash decision. Post will continue to monitor this situation
and report. END SUMMARY.
ALLEN