VZCZCXRO8460
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHOU #0227/01 0831627
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241627Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4787
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OUAGADOUGOU 000227 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W - DORSEY LOCKHART 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16 /2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL PHUM ML NG UV
SUBJECT: POVERTY AMONG BURKINABE TUAREGS COULD LEAD TO INSECURITY 
 
Classified by Charge d'Affairs Samuel C. Laeuchli for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d). 
 
REF: 2008 OUAGADOUGOU 679 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Minority Tuareg communities in northern Burkina 
Faso are racked by extreme poverty, which is exacerbated by often 
refusing to send their children to school, a lack of consistent 
access to water, and decreasing reserves of livestock, which are 
their main source of income.  Burkinabe Tuareg groups blame asylum 
seekers, bandits, or other Tuareg groups coming from Mali and Niger 
for increased insecurity in the region and for unjustifiably 
contributing to a negative perception of Burkinabe Tuaregs.  They 
insist that they do not support the ideology of Malian and Nigerien 
Tuareg rebel groups, who are responsible for  kidnappings and other 
violent crime.  However, northern Burkina Faso is still susceptible 
to threats from these rebel groups.  If poverty among these 
communities is not addressed there is potential for extremist 
influences from the Middle East or other regions, where some 
Burkinabe Tuaregs have financial ties.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In February, 2009 PolOff visited the northern Burkina Faso 
cities of Dori and Gorom-Gorom, and the village of Markoye to meet 
with minority Tuareg communities living there.  According to Amidou 
Balima, the Haut Commissaire of the Northern Province of Oudlaan, 
where both Dori and Gorom are located, the Tuareg community accounts 
for about ten percent of the population.  The community is 
traditionally nomadic, but has largely settled in the region and has 
inter-married with other ethnic groups in Oudlaan.  They rely heavily 
on income from livestock. 
 
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Tuaregs reject government services despite poverty 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3. (C) Tuareg community leaders cited poverty as their primary 
concern, and were worried that some members of the group were losing 
their livestock, which is the primary source of income in the region, 
to drought and disease.  Water is traditionally scarce in Northern 
Burkina and the Tuareg community, in particular due to its nomadic 
lifestyle, lacks consistent access to water.  Community leaders said 
that while they considered farming as an alternate source of income, 
they did not have the required skills.  Furthermore, their lack of 
other practical skills keeps them from finding other sources of 
stable income or from taking on a greater role in local government. 
 
¶4. (C) Government officials and Tuareg leaders agreed that Tuareg 
communities underutilize government resources and services that are 
available to them such as education and basic healthcare such as 
immunizations due to cultural mistrust and miscommunication.  The 
Haut Commissaire noted that the region was fortunate to have schools, 
hospitals, wells, and other public services, which while certainly 
limited by Western standards, are all available to the population at 
large.  However, Balima continued, despite government efforts to 
encourage them, the majority of Tuareg communities in Dori, Gorom, 
and Markoye have failed to take advantage of these public services. 
Tuareg leaders in Gorom complained that the local government was 
attempting to impose social services on their communities without 
respect to Tuareg cultural traditions. 
 
¶5. (C) Tuareg leaders said they often kept their children out of 
school so the children could participate in the family business, 
which was usually animal husbandry.  According to several community 
leaders one major problem was that parents did not understand the 
value of sending their children to school.  One of the leaders in 
Gorom explained that at the University of Ouagadougou, the national 
university for Burkina Faso, there were only two students of Tuareg 
ethnicity in recent years.  This, he felt, was a serious concern 
because education was needed to combat poverty.  Other community 
leaders in Gorom seemed to agree, but were unable to bridge the 
cultural divide that keeps their children out of local schools. 
Leaders in Markoye told Emboffs that while there were schools 
provided by the government, they preferred to send their children to 
Madrassahs and had plans to build some of these facilities on their 
own as soon as they acquired the appropriate funding.  (Note: One 
Tuareg from Gorom explained that ethnic ties exist between Burkinabe 
Tuaregs and those residing in Libya and Saudia Arabia, and 
occasionally they receive financial support.  End Note.) 
 
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Insecurity from Malian and Nigerian Tuaregs 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶6. (C) The northern region of Burkina Faso, which separates Mali and 
Niger, was the destination of over one thousand Tuareg asylum seekers 
from Mali in 2008.  (Reftel) Out of fear that these asylum seekers 
had ties to rebel groups operating in Mali and would assist them by 
hiding or smuggling weapons, the Burkinabe government asked those 
groups camped near the Mali-Burkina Faso border to move inland. 
Tuareg communities living in Gorom, in particular, expressed their 
 
OUAGADOUGO 00000227  002 OF 002 
 
 
uneasiness at the presence of the Malian asylum seekers in Burkina 
Faso.  Community leaders said that during the height of the Malian 
Tuareg presence, Burkinabe Tuaregs kept their distance in an effort 
to maintain their own safety and to keep from being confused with the 
Malians. 
 
¶7. (C) Speaking about the recent increase in banditry in the region, 
Tuareg leaders blamed Malian Tuaregs, saying their actions are 
stigmatizing Burkinabe Tuaregs.  While noting that Burkinabe groups 
have not been wrongly accused of crimes by security forces, public 
opinion within the communities in Gorom and Markoye has taken a 
negative turn towards Burkinabe Tuaregs.   Tuareg leaders were 
concerned by the rise in insecurity and doubted that security 
provided by the Gendarmes was sufficient to stem the rise in crime, 
particularly because they lacked necessary resources such as 
vehicles.  Community leaders denied that there is drug or arms 
trafficking in the region.  They said that banditry committed in 
Burkina Faso was associated with problems of poverty.  Community 
leaders were anxious for security to improve, but were unanimous that 
without improvements to the economic situation in the region as a 
whole, Burkina would continue to suffer from crime and insecurity 
committed by Malian and Nigerien Tuaregs. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: Tuareg communities seem intent on maintaining their 
current way of life, which puts them at the bottom of the economic 
ladder in the region.  Local officials seem willing to share scant 
community resources, but not willing to cross the cultural divide 
that separates the nomadic and sedentary communities.  Although 
Burkinabe Tuaregs insist that they do not sympathize with the actions 
taken by Malian and Nigerien groups, Burkina Faso is at the 
crossroads of this region and economic pressures could outweigh 
ideological differences, particularly considering perceived cultural 
affinities for other Tuareg groups in Libya and Saudia Arabia.  It is 
clear that without addressing poverty and a lack of security 
resources, petty theft and banditry will continue to be problems, 
potentially leading to greater instability in this region. 
 
LAEUCHLI