“They interrogated me about my nationality. The next day, they deported me to Senegal just because I am black," says Aldiouma Sissoko, victim of Mauritania's repression against black citizens. Mauritanians in Senegal look up to him as their hero.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

Racial tension and animosity continues in Mauritania after violence erupted recently on a university campus in the capital Nouakchott. It is a result of Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohammed Lagdaff government’s plans to introduce Arabic as the one and only official language in the country. African students interpreted this as an insult to their identity. Students of Arabic descent, on the other hand, hailed the Prime Minister's declaration as a wake-up call to their supremacy over blacks.

Gross violations
Racial repression effectively started in Mauritania in 1989 following a border dispute with Senegal. The government used this as an excuse to expel its black citizens to Senegal, accusing them of being Senegalese. According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds were killed or tortured, while those who remained in Mauritania were subjected to gross human rights violations.

Aldiouma Sissoko is one of the victims of racial repression. He was born in Senegal in 1951 to Mauritanian parents. He moved to Mauritania as maritime expert in 1973 after his father encouraged him to contribute to the development of the country.

Confiscated
In 1989, Mr Sissoko was interrogated for hours before being arrested.

“They asked for my national documents and when I handed them over they confiscated them because I was black and therefore not Mauritanian.”

Within minutes, the authorities put Sissoko on a military plane and deported him to Senegal.

“It was the worst day of my life and I will never forget it. They sent me to Senegal with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. I was wise enough not to resist because they would have killed me as they did with others. I get very angry and bitter every time I think about it. They took away everything I worked for, my livelihood, everything. But the most important thing I lost is my nationality.”

Remain a Mauritarian
Despite being born in Senegal, Mr Sissoko never took Senegalese citizenship. Since his deportation he has been approached several times by the Senegalese authorities about getting the Senegalese citizenship and moving on with life. But for him it is not as simple as that.

“My father told me before he died that I must remain a Mauritanian and nothing else. It is a struggle for justice and dignity. I will die struggling to reclaim my Mauritanian citizenship and to go home to Mauritania.”

Mr Sissoko is jobless and often struggles to provide food for his family.

"I shed tears sometimes when my children ask me why we are facing such hardships. But I always tell them the truth. When they grow up they can choose what nationality they want, but for now they must remain Mauritanians and nothing else.”

Hero
Mauritanians in Senegal look up to Mr Sissoko as their hero. As a jobless man in the streets of Dakar, his day-to-day activities include helping other Mauritanian refugees with their paper work, solving disputes between them and taking up their cases on their behalf at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

"Sissoko represents all the Mauritanian refugees here. I don't know what life would have been for us without him. He is our hero," says one of the Mauritanian refugees.