Tuareg conflict escalates: Europe should develop a peace plan

In the face of the growing refugee disaster in the Sahara, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to EU Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Ashton to take serious measures in seeking a peaceful end to the Tuareg conflict. "Europe must not avert its eyes any longer, nor leave it up to France to seek a peaceful resolution. With more than 160,000 people in flight in the Sahara, running from war and violence, it affects all of Europe and not just the former colonial power," stated Ulrich Delius of the STP's Africa section on Tuesday.

There was heavy fighting in northern Mali last weekend. Eyewitnesses gave consistent accounts of US air force missions bringing in food for the besieged Malian soldiers at a military base by Tessalit, near the Algerian border. "If this conflict continues to escalate, it is only a question of time until foreign troops are bought in as well to take action against the Tuareg," warned Delius. "We observe with growing concern that the Malian army are now using their air force and helicopters against the Tuareg liberation movement, the National Movement for Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). There is a serious risk that civilians will be injured in the attacks as well." In a visit to Mali yesterday, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Burkina Faso urgently called for a ceasefire. A similar appeal to France has been ignored to date.

"The European Union seems to have a blind spot where the Sahara is concerned. In spite of the growing humanitarian tragedy, Brussels has not introduced any political initiative to contain the conflict", lamented Delius. "But northern Mali is not France's backyard. All of Europe has an interest in ensuring that the Tuareg conflict does not spread."

Meanwhile, the mass exodus of the civilian population from the region continues. Some 81,000 Tuareg and members of other ethnic groups are on the run within northern Mali. Another 80,000 refugees are looking for safety in neighboring countries. In Mauritania, 31,000 people are seeking asylum. Approximately 1,500 new refugees arrive there daily. In Algeria, 11,000 people seek protection, in addition to 20,000 refugees in Burkina Faso and 18,000 in Niger. Only in Niger has the flood of new arrivals begun to slow; in all other neighboring countries hundreds of new refugees from northern Mali arrive every day.