VZCZCXRO9864
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #1190/01 2981557
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251557Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3033
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 1482
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0469
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/W FOR BACHMAN & HEFLIN; AF/FO FOR THOMAS-GREENFIELD; PRM 
FOR GREENE; PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PSEC PBTS PREF PREL PTER SMIG SOCI
KCRM, NG 
SUBJECT: NIGER: GOVERNMENT MOVES TO EXPEL NOMADIC ARABS 
 
REF: NIAMEY 904 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4(B) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) Since the evening of Tuesday, October 25, BBC Africa 
service has been reporting on an attempt by Government of 
Niger (GON) authorities to expel an uncertain number of 
nomadic Arabs known as "Mahamid Arabs" from the Chadian 
border region in the country's extreme east (Diffa region, 
near Lake Chad). On Tuesday evening, the GON's Minister of 
the Interior, Mounkaila Modi, issued an official statement on 
the expulsions, noting that Mahamids would be required to 
leave the country within five days. BBC reports further 
indicated that "several hundred" Mahamids had been rounded up 
by the Gendarmerie (Nigerien paramilitary police) in the 
village of Kabelawa, 75km east of Diffa. Spokesmen for the 
Mahamid community responded on Wednesday, denouncing the 
decision and stating that they would challenge it in 
parliament and the courts. Many Mahamids are reported to be 
citizens of Niger. A prior attempt to expel them in 2002 came 
to nothing. Niger Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou 
convoked Ambassadors and Charges at 14:50 local on Wednesday 
to explain the GON's justifications for the move. The 
Consular section has taken steps to contact Amcits in the 
region and ensure their security. NOTE: While BBC reports 
suggested that there were roughly 150,000 Mahamid Arabs in 
Niger, post's own estimates and those of local media suggest 
that the number ranges from 17,000 to 50,000. END NOTE END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) On the evening of the 24th October, GON Interior 
Minister Mounkaila Modi issued a statement regarding the 
Mahamid Arabs. Modi noted that the Mahamid Arabs had fled 
conflict in their home country, Chad, and taken refuge in 
eastern Niger. However, they had now become a security and 
environmental threat for Niger. Modi noted that, since their 
arrival in Niger, the Mahamids had been in conflict with 
local populations over watering holes and grazing areas. 
Several Nigerien citizens had been killed in these conflicts. 
The Minister stated that Mahamids illegally owned firearms 
and had used them in disputes with Nigeriens. Mahamid 
livestock, allegedly numbering in the hundreds of thousands, 
were taxing the Diffa region's scarce pasturage and water 
resources, and destroying the local ecosystem. 
 
¶3.  (U) Private radio station Anfani broadcast excerpts from 
statements by Niamey based Mahamid leaders on October 25. The 
Mahamid leaders, who were reportedly in discussions with the 
GON, denounced the expulsion order as "thoughtless and 
ill-inspired," and suggested that it would have "dangerous 
consequences," and could create a "large-scale conflict." 
They stated that Niger was violating the provisions of the AU 
Charter and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. The 
representatives claimed that theirs was a community of "tens 
of thousands" of nomadic Arabs who came to Niger from Chad in 
two waves, during the famines of the late 1960s, and the 
early 1980s. They claimed that, since their arrival in Niger, 
they had duly registered with Nigerien authorities, paid 
their taxes, and received other Nigerien legal documents. The 
leaders noted that most Mahamids know little of Chad, as they 
have been born and raised in Niger. They noted that some 
neighboring groups like the Toubou and Mober also came from 
Chad, though many centuries earlier. 
 
¶4.  (U) The Mahamid leaders argued that it would be 
practically impossible for the GON to chase them all down, 
given their numbers and the dispersion of their population 
and flocks. More ominously, they suggested that, were the GON 
to proceed with this plan, it would have to use force, as the 
community would resist and "oppose violence to violence." On 
a more moderate note, National Assembly Deputy Sileyman Ben 
Hameda, who represents many Mahamid Arabs in his Diffa 
constituency, stated that he and other National Assembly 
members would challenge the GON's expulsion order in court 
and in the legislature. Post believes that these members 
might convoke Interior Minister Modi and demand an 
explanation of this order. 
 
 
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THE FM BRIEFS DIP. CORPS 
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NIAMEY 00001190  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Convoked by GON MFA Mindaoudou on the afternoon of the 
25th, Ambassadors and Charges were treated to a fuller 
explanation of the GON's actions. In contrast to Interior 
Minister Modi's emphasis on crime and conflict, the FM 
emphasized the strain that the Mahamid Arabs' herds put on 
the pasturage and water table of the arid Diffa region. She 
noted that, when the Arabs first came, they had few animals. 
The GON had welcomed them as famine refugees and allowed them 
to stay. By the late 1990s the herds had grown to the point 
where they came into frequent conflict with local herders and 
farmers. These groups, along with the NGOs and religious 
leaders who represent them, first petitioned the GON to 
resolve this issues in 1999. At that time, the Minister 
noted, the GON declined to act against the Mahamid Arabs as 
there was "no durable solution" to their plight. FM stated 
that the GON was not clear on the number of persons to be 
expelled, or the timetable for the expulsion. She suggested 
that two weeks might be more reasonable than five days, but 
that the GON was "studying" the modalities. The FM stated 
that none of the persons being considered for expulsion were 
Nigerien citizens, and that the GON would never expel 
citizens. NOTE: Under Nigerien law, citizenship derives from 
birth in the country provided that at least one parent is a 
Nigerien citizen. END NOTE. 
 
¶6. (C) The Chadian Ambassador appeared taken aback by these 
revelations, and asked why the Governments of Chad and Sudan, 
as the countries of origin, had not been consulted. He 
further noted that, were his government involved, it would 
contribute to a more orderly and humane transfer. Mindaoudou 
replied that the matter was an internal one, but that the GON 
would work with neighboring countries to ensure that the 
process was an "orderly, dignified action." Mindaoudou 
repeatedly emphasized that this action was not directed 
against Arabs per se, only against the nomadic Mahamid Arabs 
whose "large herds" were causing hardships for Nigerien 
herders and farmers. She touched on the issue of banditry and 
crime, but, with representatives of the Ministry of Land 
Management at her side, seemed more inclined to emphasize the 
natural resource limitations as motivations for the decision. 
While the FM closed the session with many questions left 
unanswered, she offered the curious observation that this was 
a "regional administrative decision." 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (C) Post is unsure of the cause and timing of the 
expulsion order. The notion that it was made by regional 
officials in Diffa without the full concurrence of the 
Minister of the Interior and the President of Niger is 
inconceivable, given Niger's highly centralized 
administration. While the Governor of Diffa reportedly 
informed the Mahamid Arabs of the decision, it is unlikely 
that he made it himself. It appears that the GON may be 
trying to pass the buck out of Niamey. Moreover, while the 
Ambassador and Poloff have made several visits to the Diffa 
region since spring 2005, we have never heard any local 
contact raise the issue of the Mahamid Arabs; a fact that 
belies the GON's contention that this has been a hot issue 
for the locals and their leaders since the 1990s. 
 
¶8. (C) Causality remains uncertain - as does the legal and 
logistical ability of the GON to implement its decision. With 
respect to the former, the GON may posit some sort of 
connection between the Mahamid community and the recent 
up-tick in banditry and violence in the area over the last 
few months (reftel). They may suspect a linkage between the 
Mahamids and Chadian rebels / bandits. Alternatively, they 
may wish to appease the neighboring Toubou community after 
recent rumblings of discontent - including the suggestion 
that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahel (FARS), a 
Toubou rebel group from the 1990s, was making a 
re-appearance. All in all, mounting anxiety over the 
combination of porous borders, banditry, arms and cigarette 
smuggling, and inter-ethnic tension may have contributed to a 
rash decision. Post will continue to monitor this situation 
and report. END SUMMARY. 
ALLEN