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afrol News, 29 June - An operation by the Senegalese Army to "curb increased insecurity and banditry" in the country's southern region Casamance again has disrupted economic and social life in the war-torn province. Over 1000 persons have again fled to The Gambia and more are internally displaced. According to the local Red Cross, since May, more than 3,700 people have arrived in The Gambia from the Casamance region, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in Geneva, adding that a number of them may have returned. Each government or rebel offensive - there have been several this year already - tend to create great disruptions in the potentially rich province's economic life. The rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces in Casamance, or MFDC, have been fighting for the independence of Senegal's southern province since 1982 in a low-intensity conflict. Casamance is almost entirely separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia and its population majority is Christian or adheres to African religions, as opposed to the Muslim rest of Senegal. Over the last 20 years, the unrest has severely damaged the economy of Casamance, which also is the most fertile and productive agricultural region of Senegal. Being the breadbasket of Senegal, Casamance supplies the nation with rice; a major staple food. The province also is popular with foreign tourists, but shares little in the revenue from all these resources. While the conflict partly origins from Casamance's economic discontent - the region has always been economically marginalized and received few government investments - its long duration has further led to a sharp decline in the economic and social well-being of the population. Although the conflict is of low intensity - an estimated 1000 lives have been lost during 20 years - the continuous MFDC and government offensives continue to inflict severe hardship on the population and to disrupt social and economic development. The violence in Casamance has deterred tourism, disrupted rice production, and thereby harmed Senegal's overall economic growth. According to a recent report by the Humanitarian Practice Network, "durable peace remains elusive," despite ceasefires and accords throughout the 1990s and improved security conditions. Thousands of the regions citizens have been displaced for longer or shorter periods, either within the Casamance or into neighbouring countries, the group laments. In the past, those fleeing Casamance generally stayed in the border area of The Gambia for a couple of weeks and returned home as soon as the situation calmed down, UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Clark said. "They are reluctant to go to the [refugee] camp, which are situated some 200 kilometres inland, preferring to wait at the border until the situation calms down, and then return home." The Gambia is already host to some 4,000 refugees from Senegal. Only in May this year, The Gambia had received a new influx of some 2,000 Senegalese refugees fleeing fighting between government and MFDC forces in the area of Diouloulou. Also these refugees staid only for a relatively short time in The Gambia but the unrest paralysed all economic activity in the small provincial centre of Diouloulou.
Sources: Based on UN sources, HPN and afrol archives
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