Black Mauritanians have historically been stripped of their land ownership rights, most notably beginning in the 1980’s when a new law provided a legal basis to confiscate their land and redistribute it to Beydanes (lighter skins Arab Mauritanians) and others [i].
This land grabbing system of laws, built upon structural racism still occurs today, and creates what is called in French, “l’esclavage foncier,” or land slavery in English. Land slavery is the pattern of the government taking land away from Black Mauritanians and giving it to Beydanes, and then the Beydanes employing or enslaving the Black Mauritanians to work the land they previously owned. [ii] Despite a program to compensate those who lost their land as a result of governmental development policies, very little land has actually been redistributed, and the Mauritanian government has not taken any steps to get Black Mauritanians involved in this process of developing their lands or in the conversation about land development and compensation. [iii]
Mauritanian human rights activists, and local human rights organizations, report that local authorities still to this day, allow Mauritanian Beydanes or Haratins to take over land that is occupied by Black Mauritanians (Fulaani, Soninkes and Wolofs), and sometimes to even block their access to water sources.[iv]
The land grabbing issue has created an emergence of several protests by Black mostly Fulani Mauritanians in the south that have been the biggest victims of land grabbing in Mauritania. In 2020 the Mauritanian government granted thousands of hectares of land concessions to Arab investors along the Senegalese River regions. Furthermore, land that had been taken away from Black Fulani Mauritanians, was also sometimes given to Haratani Mauritanians.
This conflict of land grabbing often is between repatriated, former Fulani Mauritanian refugees that were deported to Senegal in the 1990’s and brought back to Mauritania in 2011, and Black Arab Mauritanians former slaves also known as Hartani and Mauritanian Beydanes and local Beydane authorities in all levels of the government.
From 2011-2021, multiple Black Mauritanian villages populated mostly by Fulanis in the southern part of Mauritania, have been victims of land grabbing laws by the government. These villages were Boghe, Darel Barka,and now MBagne/Feralla, and this is an ongoing crisis.
In August of 2020, some 9,200 people who inhabited the Brakna region of Dar el Barka in southern Mauritania demonstrated for several days against the state granting their grain-growing land to an Arab investor from the Gulf. During a demonstration, their spokesperson, Abdourahamane Ly, reaffirmed the people’s attachment to their land during a demonstration.
During this time, the forum of associations for the defence of human rights provided support and endorsed the demonstrators of Dar el Barka as to make a project of this kind succeed, there are essential prerequisites explained the president of Fonadh, Mamadou Sarr.
Resurgence of Land Grabbing in 2021
In early 2021, we have once again witnessed a new wave of land grabbing in the southern part of Mauritania, especially in the villages of Mbagne and Ferala, where Black Mauritanian residents of Mbagne and Ferala organized a peaceful protest on February 22, 2021, in order raise awareness about the land grabbing issue. The goal of the protest was to tell the world that their land is being ripped away by the Mauritanian government and being given to Haratani Mauritanians. The human consequences of this practice are devastating, with Black Mauritanians losing their access to agriculture, their sole livelihoods, as well as the land of their ancestors.
Now in late 2021, the peril continuous. For a few weeks now, the populations of the locality of Ngawlé in the Trarza region of Mauritania, have been protesting against lang grabbing in their village. In the last 48 hours we have seen tensions rise between the villagers and the police forces that were dispatched on site in Ngawlè to protect the drivers who are working on the disputed land in Ngawlè. The video and written testimonies that we have received from the population on the ground show the use of excessive force from the Mauritanian police directed toward protesters including the use of tear gas which has left many protesters wounded, including two pregnant women.
Ngawlè is the latest victim of land grabbing in southern Mauritania, after Koylal,which occurred a few months ago, and Dar EL Barke a few years ago and the list goes on.
Faced with this upsurge in conflicts between the local administrations and local populations throughout the southern border of Mauritania all along the side of the Senegalese River, what Black Mauritanians are experiencing is waking up being told that they are being evicted from their farmlands that they have used to farm and live on for generations, and when they stand to protect property lands, they are being met by excessive use of force from local police whose are turning against the very populations that they are supposed to be protecting.
Land grabs have devastating consequences for Black Mauritanians, as it displaces them often out of the country, and successful land grabs force entire populations and villages into poverty and starvation.
In addition to humanitarian concerns, land grabbing has the potential to drive civil unrest and conflicts between Arab and the Black Mauritanians. Cherif Ba, a native of Mbagne shared this during a recent protest in Feralla: “This rush for our lands is an ongoing process and part of the governments agenda to Arabize the country, and further violate human rights for Black Mauritanians”.
As Human Rights Organizations and Activists, we are calling on the international community including the United States and United Nations to:
1. Call on the Mauritanian government to immediately cease the practice of land grabbing/ land slavery to prevent conflict and humanitarian crisis.
2. Encourage the Mauritanian government to pass and enforce laws that outlaw the practice of land grabbing/land slavery.
3. Encourage mediation and peaceful conflict resolution related to the new wave of land grabbing.
4. Offer protection and compensation to Mauritanians who have been forced out of the country due to this practice.
5. Get landowners involved in the process of land development and cultivation, and contract negotiation with foreign nationals.
6. Urge the Mauritanian government to protect and respect land rights and human rights
References:
[i] Human Rights Watch, “Ethnicity, Discrimination, and Other Red Lines Repression of Human Rights Defenders in Mauritania,” Human Rights Watch, February 12, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/12/ethnicity-discrimination-and-other-red-lines/repression-human-rights-defenders.
[ii] Human Rights Watch, “Ethnicity, Discrimination, and Other Red Lines Repression of Human Rights Defenders in Mauritania,” Human Rights Watch, February 12, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/12/ethnicity-discrimination-and-other-red-lines/repression-human-rights-defenders.
[iii] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, “Mauritania,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, U.S. Department of State, 2018, https://mr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/204/Mauritania-2018-Human-Rights-Report.pdf. https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2020-08-23-thousands-of-mauritanian-peasants-take-
[iv] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, “Mauritania,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018, U.S. Department of State, 2018, https://mr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/204/Mauritania-2018-Human-Rights-Report.pdf.
[viii] https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2020-08-23-thousands-of-mauritanian-peasants-take-
Houleye Thiam, MPA, MS is president of The Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in The US. She is also president and founder of Youth and Hope, L’espoir pour La Jeunesse and Social Worker/ Organiser / Mauritanian Community Activist
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