The August 2020 military coup in Mali
cast light on the domestic political troubles facing this West African state.
Interestingly one of the many reasons cited for the overthrow of the government
was its failure to get to grips with the country's separatist
issues - a reference to the Tuareg uprising in the north of the country.
In this video i'm going to take a look at the Tuareg independence movement in Mali
and explore their efforts to create their own state Azawad.
As well as asking whether the campaign really has a future, I'll also show how sometimes the
greatest challenge to independence movements is not in fact the state it aims to break away from.
[MUSIC]
Hello and welcome. If you're new to the channel, my name is James Ker-Lindsay and here
I look at international relations, secession independence and the origins of countries.
We have a tendency to think of separatist groups in rather binary terms
there's the group seeking independence and then there's the parent state
- as the country it's seeking to separate from is usually known.
However, in reality things can often be far more complicated than this.
While the separatist challenge will often become a cause for wider national
unity in the parent state, this certainly isn't always the case.
The campaign against the secessionist movement can become a highly divisive
issue pitting different parts of society against one another,
both in terms of the strategy to beat the insurgency and in terms of the end goals.
Meanwhile separatist groups can also face serious challenges as well.
As well as fighting the parents state,
they can also face deep divisions within their own community.
On top of this they can also encounter strong opposition from other forces in the country.
There are perhaps few better cases of all these complications
than the Touareg independence movement in northern Mali.
This recently came to the fore when, on 18 August 2020, the military in the country overthrew
the president and prime minister.
Justifying their actions, the leaders of the coup not only referred to the government's failure to tackle corruption,
they also noted the ongoing threat from islamic militants and from separatists.
But it's not only the government that is facing problems.
The Tuareg independence movement itself is also facing serious challenges from the same islamic militants
- as well as from within its own community.
So what is the Tuareg independence movement all about?
The Tuareg are traditionally nomadic people following the Islamic faith
and speaking a Berber language of North Africa.
Today they're thought to number around two million people in total and are
spread across five countries: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali and Niger.
In three of these countries - Algeria, Burkina Faso and Libya - there's been
no apparent history of political agitation by the Tuareg community.
However, in Niger and in Mali, where the largest number of Touareg live
there have been a numerous cases of uprising over the past half century.
The Republic of Mali lies in West Africa.
Landlocked, it's surrounded by Algeria to its north; Niger,
Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to its south; and Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania to its west.
At one and a quarter million square kilometers, or almost half a million square miles, in size
it's the 23rd largest UN member, just ahead of South Africa and Colombia.
Its current population stands at about 19 million people.
The country has an incredibly rich and diverse history and was a renowned center of learning.
However, the story really begins in the late 19th century when the area
was conquered by France, becoming the territory of French Sudan.
In 1959, as France began its process of decolonisation,
French Sudan united with neighbouring Senegal to form the Mali Federation.
However, after Senegal withdrew from the union the following year,
the territory went on to become an independent state in its own right as the Republic of Mali.
From the start, tensions emerged between
the central government and the Tuareg community in the country.
Not only were there clear ethnic differences, but there were also deep differences in outlook.
The sub-Saharan Africans of the south, who made up the overwhelming majority of the population,
and dominated the country's political institutions, believed that the Tuareg - who
currently make up anywhere between 3-5% of the population - had little real loyalty to the state.
Meanwhile, the Tuareg harboured a sense the southerners had little interest in the development
of the sparsely populated north, where the Tuareg live.
These differences would lead to a series of rebellions over the next half century.
The first of these occurred in 1963.
Although the uprising was put down within six months with French assistance,
the sense of disenchantment nevertheless remained.
In the 1970s, the Tuareg movement started to receive considerable
support from neighbouring Libya, which was under the control of Muammar Gaddafi.
The Tuareg were recruited into the Libyan army.
They were also sent to assist the Palestinians in the Lebanese civil war
and fight in Libya's conflict with Chad.
All this encouraged a new sense of militancy and in 1990 another rebellion broke out.
This lasted until 1995, when the parties reached a peace agreement.
However, just a decade later, a third uprising occurred;
this time centred on Mali and northern Niger.
This third major rebellion came to an end in 2009 when another peace agreement was reached.
Curiously, while there'd long been a clear sense of Tuareg identity,
coupled with a deep disenchantment with the Malian state and a growing militancy, it was noticeable
that the Tuareg rebellions until this point had not been overtly aimed at achieving independence.
However, all this changed around 2011, when the National Movement for the Liberation of
Azawad - a name derived from a historic term for the region - was created.
Seemingly spurred by the recent independence of South Sudan
and assisted by the return of a number of soldiers and a steady flow of arms from Libya
following the fall of Gaddafi, the MNLA launched an armed uprising in January 2012.
Controversially, in doing so, the MNLA actively sided with the several
islamist insurgency movements that were also operating in the north of Mali at the time.
On 22 March 2012, the military stepped in
and overthrew the Mali government accusing it of not doing enough to stop the uprisings.
Seizing its chance to capitalize on the situation,
on 6 April 2012 the MNLA unilaterally declared independence.
Needless to say, the new state went wholly unrecognised.
In a statement put out by the African Union, the chairperson of the commission
stated that declaration of independence was "null and of no value whatsoever"
and called on the international community to fully support Africa's principal position on the issue.
In the end, international condemnation was unnecessary.
The alliance of convenience between the MNLA and Islamic forces broke down in June 2012
when the former allies turned on each other.
This led to several serious battles.
In the end, the islamic forces won and the MNLA lost the territories it had controlled.
Nine months later, the MNLA called for peace talks with the Mali government.
Meanwhile, facing this twin challenge of separatism and an Islamic insurgency,
the Mali Government now invited France and Chad to intervene.
Moreover, on 25 April 2013, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2100, establishing
the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali - MINUSMA.
Although the effort to proclaim an independent republic of Azawad had been put down,
the quest for independence had certainly not been suppressed.
Indeed, by September 2013 the talks between the government and the MNLA
had broken down, which led to a resurgence of low-level fighting.
Then, in 2015 an Algerian-led initiative - conducted with support from the African Union,
the European Union and the United States, amongst others - secured a peace agreement
between the Mali Government and various pro- and anti-government groups, including the MNLA.
According to the terms of this deal, which recognised "the national unity, territorial
integrity and sovereignty of the State of Mali", a process of decentralisation would run alongside
other steps to integrate fighters into the national army and build the economy of the north.
However, over five years later, little has seemingly been implemented.
Meanwhile,
Mali remains at war and the situation on the ground continues to be extremely complicated.
The islamist insurgency campaign continues in
the north and has now spread into the central areas of the country.
The government has little to no presence in the north.
And, as of June 2020, the UN mission in the country consists of 15,000 personnel.
And although the Tuareg uprising continues, the community is split;
not just into various different organisations but also in terms of competing aims.
While the MNLA continues to actively campaign for independence,
another body - the Arab Movement of Azawad, the MAA - has emerged.
Based on a secular ideology, it's committed to combating
the islamist organisations and organised crime in the region.
Interestingly, and importantly, in contrast to the MNLA, the MAA's goal
is instead centred on autonomy, rather than outright independence, for Azawad.
To this extent, even within the Tuareg community, there's a clear division between
one faction that wants self-determination and independence, and another that's pursuing its
aim of greater economic and political autonomy within the Malian state.
While it's often tempting to think of independence campaigns as binary - those
fighting to break away versus the parent state - in truth the situation on the ground
can sometimes be incredibly complex, with all sorts of divisions and sub-conflicts.
One of the best examples of this is Mali.
The August 2020 military coup in the country
once again drew attention to the ongoing Tuareg independence movement.
Interestingly, while there have in fact been a
number of armed rebellions by the Tuareg community since the 1960s,
it wasn't actually until 2012 that any of these was specifically directed towards independence.
However, the unilateral declaration of independence
proved to be short-lived and within a year the self-proclaimed state had collapsed.
And while the MNLA continues its campaign for an independent Azawad,
it still faces serious challenges on a number of fronts.
As well as campaign against the Government of Mali,
it also faces the ongoing islamist movements that operate in the north.
On top of this, there are also those within the Tuareg community who don't seem to even want
independence; but are instead focused on greater autonomy within Mali.
For all these reasons, it seems
highly unlikely that we'll see an independent Azawad any time soon.
Instead, northern Mali looks set to be marred in conflict and
deep political divisions across society for this foreseeable future.
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