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Reintegration – 2004

In a news article, it was reported that the UN had imposed tighter restrictions on staff movements in northern Niger given the growing insecurity in the region. It was also reported that the peace processes that began after the signing of the agreement in 1995 provided for the disarmament of the rebels and the integration of many of them into the army. However, some Tuaregs accused President Mamadou Tandja of failing to respect the terms of the deal, especially the reintegration of the former rebels into the socio-economic life.¹ It was not clear on how many former rebel combatants were reintegrated back to socio-economic life. Of the 7,014 ex-combatants registered, 3,160 remained to be demobilized and reintegrated due to a lack of funding.²

2005: After a decade of peace agreement, the Niger government finally came up with an economic assistance plan to reintegrate the Tuareg rebel combatants into socio-economic life. Under the project, 3,160 former combatants will be granted around US $300 each in the form of micro-loans for projects in animal husbandry, the craft industry and vegetable gardening. Before this plan was announced, around 800 former combatants were integrated into the public services, but the socio-economic reintegration of the largest chunk of the ex-rebels had yet to be achieved.³ As such, a total of 3,960 former combatants were reintegrated back to socio-economic life.

1. “Niger; UN Responds to Growing Insecurity in the North,” Africa News, June 10, 2004.
2. Florquin, N. and E.G. Berman, eds., “Armed and Aimless: Armed Groups, Guns, and Human Security in the ECOWAS Region,” Geneva: Small Arms Survey (2005): 321.
3. “Niger; Tuareg Ex-Combatants to Get Promised Assistance a Decade After Peace Accord,” Africa News, October 14, 2005;”Niger (PCPAA, 2006 — 2007),” School for a Culture of Peace, 2008, accessed August 1, 2010, http://escolapau.uab.cat/img/programas/desarme/mapa/niger08i.pdf.