The Conflict's Complexity in Northern Mali Calls for Tailored Solutions

Policy Note 1, 2015 By Ole Martin Gaasholt Who needs to reconcile with whom? The Conflict’s Complexity in Northern Mali Calls for Tailored Solutions PHOTO: MARC DEVILLE/GETTY IMAGES While negotiations are taking place in Algiers, some observers insist on the need for reconciliation between Northern Mali and the rest of the country and particularly between Tuareg and other Malians. But the Tuareg are a minority in Northern Mali and most of them did not support the rebels. So who needs to be reconciled with whom? And what economic solutions will counteract conflict? This Policy Note argues that not only exclusion underlies the conflict, but also a lack of economic opportunities. The important Tuareg component in most rebellions in Mali does not mean that all Tuareg participate or even support the rebellions. ll the rebellions in Northern Mali the peoples of Northern Mali, which they The Songhay opposed Tuareg and Arab have been initiated by Tuareg, typi- called Azawad, and not just of the Tuareg. rebels in the 1990s, whereas many of them cally from the Kidal region, whe- There has thus been a sequence of joined Islamists controlling Northern Mali in reA the first geographically circumscribed rebellions in Mali in which the Tuareg 2012. Very few Songhay, or even Arabs, joined rebellion broke out a few years after inde- component has been important. In the Mouvement National pour la Libération pendence in 1960. Tuareg from elsewhere addition, there have been complex de l’Azawad (MNLA), despite the claim that in Northern Mali have participated in later connections between the various conflicts, Azawad was a multiethnic territory. Diverging conflicts in varying degree. with unresolved grievances from previous interests were thus reflected in the existence of episodes feeding into subsequent rebellions. several rebel and Islamist organisations. Tuareg component in rebellions The Tuareg component, however, does not The composite character of the population In the 1990s, Malian Arabs put their mark imply participation or even support by all of Northern Mali found expression in complex on what has continued to be known as a Tuareg. oppositions between people of different ethnic Tuareg rebellion, this time affecting all The conflict has remained specific to groups or parts of ethnic groups both during of Northern Mali. By contrast, a third Mali, and, within Mali, to Tuareg originating the conflict and in the complicated post- rebellion from 2006 until 2009 occurred in Kidal region. Other Malian Tuareg were conflict negotiations. almost exclusively in the Kidal region. not necessarily initially concerned, and nor The latest conflict, beginning in 2012, generally were Tuareg inhabitants of other Northern Mali’s peoples was greatly influenced by the people who countries. Furthermore, the way in which The major ethnic groups of Northern Mali are had taken part in the previous rebellion, other Malian peoples were affected varied the Songhay, Fulani, Arabs and Tuareg. The along with additional people from Kidal. from one rebellion to the next. Songhay are the most numerous, while the Tuareg from other regions of Northern Malian Arabs were important participants Fulani are far more numerous in central Mali. Mali joined in as the conflict unfolded. This in the extensive conflict of the 1990s that In the south of the country, the Bambara time, however, the predominantly Tuareg permanently reshaped the relationship between are numerically and politically dominant, rebels claimed to be fighting on behalf of all Northern Mali and the rest of the country. and their influence has increased with the ISSN 1654-6695 ISBN 978-91-7106-760-9 expansion of the apparatus of the Malian state the Tuareg have, or Northern Mali has, been counter marginalisation have been sufficient since independence. systematically excluded from participation in to counteract renewed conflict. Instead, the The Arabs are few in number but have the Malian state. Worse, violent responses to latest upheaval has produced more complex a distinct presence as traders. Both Tuaregs conflict, as in Kidal during the first rebellion, tensions among Northern Malians than ever and Arabs are primarily nomadic pastoralists. have exacerbated the sense of marginalisation. before. Arabs were better represented in the Malian On a different, but related, note, the national institutions than the Tuareg until the Malian state has been accused of not developing Reconciling whom? rebellion of the 1990s. Both Tuareg and Arabs Northern Mali, regardless of its ethnic The Tuareg of the MNLA began to oppose increased their presence in the Malian state make-up. A challenging economic situation, Malian Tuareg Islamists (Ansar Dine) during machinery and armed characterised by droughts, the conflict, but also the Algerian Al-Qaeda forces as part of the peace Lack of state oppression, obstacles of the Maghreb (AQIM) and another Islamist settlement following that for pastoralists and, more group, Mouvement pour l’Unicité et le Jihad conflict. employment recently, smuggling and en Afrique de l’Ouest (MUJAO), which Arabs and Tuareg may opportunities draws abduction for ransom are recruited heavily inside Mali, particularly still be less numerous than young men to criminal attributed to the failure of among the Songhay and Fulani. the Songhay, depending activitites or into the state to deliver economic It was MUJAO that drove the MNLA on how one defines people military movements. development and security. from Northern Mali. After the French of slave descent. Although Instead, the Malian intervention and the gradual but incomplete such people exist across Mali” and may at state has continued to govern Northern Mali restoration of the Malian state presence in times outnumber descendants of their former and the Tuareg living there heavy-handedly. the north, an Arab group clashed with the masters, among many Tuareg and Arab Conflicts have been ended by offering MNLA, before splitting, whereupon one groups they are not just more numerous, but positions in the state and armed forces to faction allied with the MNLA and other also somewhat distinct from other people. Tuareg and other Northern Malians. Projects Tuareg groups in the negotiations in Algiers. Differences between Tuareg groups and have also been offered to former rebels while Defections from Ansar Dine created between different parts of Northern Mali infrastructural and development investments new Tuareg groups, which with the MNLA have been as important as those between have been promised and partly implemented. drove the Malian army from Kidal in May entire ethnic groups. This has not precluded Similar measures have been discussed in 2014. After a ceasefire, further negotiations perceptions of differential treatment on ethnic recent negotiations. were agreed upon. Before that, Tuareg and grounds and demands for redress. A frequently mentioned issue is the lack Arabs loyal to the Malian army throughout of employment opportunities for young men, the conflict, but the rivals of powerful Tuareg Growing sense of marginalisation who are easily drawn to criminal activities rebels for regional influence, not least in The recurring conflicts have been taken as such as smuggling or into politico-military Kidal, paved the way for the Malian army’s proof by rebels and outside observers that movements. None of the interventions to re-entry into Kidal in 2013. In October 2014, a Tuareg group siding with the government drove MNLA members from several localities in Northern Mali. PHOTO: TOM PILSTON/PANOS Elsewhere, Songhay vigilante groups active during previous rebellions to counter the Tuareg and Arabs have been revived to oppose the latest Tuareg rebels. With such a complex mosaic of tension and opposition, who should be reconciled with whom? Carrying on (making a) living in Northern Mali Given such diverse relations with and within the Malian state, reconciliation appears as a means to address the abuses committed by all sides in the conflict and to insist on an inclusive solution for all Northern Malians. A negotiated solution with the instigators of the latest conflict, notwithstanding their possible links with now wanted Islamists, was As a way of negotiating peace, positions in the state and armed forces are often offered to under consideration throughout the conflict. former rebells from Nortern Mali. This underscores the willingness of most 2 Policy Note 1, 2015 PHOTO: ANNA SERDYUK/GETTY IMAGES Northern Mali faces a challenging economic situation. Droughts, obstacles for pastoralists and state oppression have led to increased smuggling and abductions for ransom. The state has failed to deliver economic development and security in the region. actors to reconcile the opposing factions and achieve reunification. However, this symbolic option though important, does not address the Policy recommendations underlying causes of the successive conflicts. Marginalisation was not only due to political exclusion. Limited economic opportunities Recognise the complexity of the Malian socio- both heightened the sense of exclusion and political landscape and avoid preferential reinforced the conditions that have produced 1 treatment of or focus on particularly vocal groups. conflicts. To address the deeper causes, the economy Promote reconciliation as an all-embracing of Northern Mali, which is over-dependent process to include the entire population affected on pastoralism, trade, smuggling, and state by conflict, rather than supposedly representative and development support,

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