Moves to expel 150 000 Arabs who have settled in Niger over the past three decades are already underway, one day after the government made the surprise announcement that the Arabs, known as Mahamid, would have five days to leave the country.
Many of the Arabs settled in Niger after leaving neighbouring Chad following the 1974 drought and again during the Chadian civil war of the 1980s.
This week Niger’s Minister of the Interior, Mounkila Modi, said on state television, ”We have decided, starting today, to expel these nomadic Arab ‘Mahamids’ to their home countries.” Tensions between the communities are largely over scarce resources such as water. Modi accused the Mahamid of illegally possessing firearms and representing a threat to the local communities.
Hamed Ahmed, a leader of the Arab community in Niger, said that the decision would fuel ethnic tensions: ”This decision by the government is extremely dangerous; it will fuel the hatred between ethnic communities in Diffa and will lead to a widespread conflict … To return these Arabs and their livestock is physically impossible. They will only move under force and all violence will produce more violence.”
Meanwhile, Chadian rebel groups this week briefly captured a key eastern town, prompting an increase in security in the capital N’djamena. Chadian President Idriss Deby faces a coalition of rebel groups who are trying to overthrow his regime. Deby has accused neighbouring Sudan of backing the rebels.