Senegal: IDPs remain vulnerable as
obstacles to return and reintegration persist
26 Jun 2008 11:28:00 GMT Source: IDMC
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A notice warning of mines in
Agnak. Minefields present a significant obstacle to the return and reintegration of IDPs in southern Casamance.
Martin Evans
Although confusion still reigns over the number of people internally
displaced in Senegal’s Casamance region, ranging anywhere between 10,000 and 70,000 people, continuous return movements have been reported. These have mostly been spontaneous and unassisted.
Better security cooperation between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, coupled with the peace agreement signed in December 2004 between the Senegalese government and the separatist Mouvement des Forces
Démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC), has encouraged these returns, but insecurity persists. Armed clashes between factions of the MFDC, in Bignona department near the border with Gambia, highlight
the weaknesses of the peace process. Rebel attacks against civilians returning to districts further south, along the southern border of Casamance with Guinea-Bissau, were also reported in the first
few months of 2008.
Temporary movements of people to safe areas nearby following violent attacks are a common pattern. As the vast majority of IDPs in Casamance seek refuge with family,
friends and host communities, they are often unable to ensure livelihood opportunities for themselves and their families. In areas of displacement, the food security of IDPs has been particularly
affected by rising food prices and limited access to farming land. Many commute to home areas as far as the intermittent violence and landmines permit, in order to tend to their crops. Social and
psychosocial problems are also prevalent among IDPs.
In other areas where IDPs have returned, the legacy of the long conflict has continued to hamper their sustainable reintegration.
Infrastructure and services remain limited, and the presence of mines has prevented them from farming again. The government, with the support of local and international partners, has launched a series
of recovery and reconstruction programmes in the region. Much, however, still needs to be done to extend humanitarian mine-clearance operations and address land-related grievances. The consolidation
of a sustainable peace will depend on the capacity and willingness of the government and the MFDC to abide by their commitments. Recovery and reintegration efforts, however, should not depend on
political successes.
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