Fear and statelessness in Mauritania

Published: 3/Oct/2011
Source: Open Society Foundations

By Sebastian Kohn Over the past two weeks protests have broken out in Mauritania over an ongoing government census—leaving at least a dozen people reported wounded and one person dead. News agency reports say the protests have involved a movement called “Don’t Touch My Nationality,” pointing to the suspicions that apparently lie behind the unrest. With a history of racism, slavery and discrimination at the hands of the country’s ethnically Arab majority, the country’s black Mauritanian minority is wary that any census could turn into another bid to take away their citizenship rights.

Read further on Open Society Foundations website: Fear and Statelessness in Mauritania

Themes: Discrimination, Ethnic/Racial/Religious, Statelessness
Regions: North Africa, Mauritania
Year: 2011