The Casamance conflict and its displaced persons : an overview.

Abstract

The natural region of Casamance has been hit hard by an armed conflict between the (separatist) Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) and the Senegalese army. For more than 30 years, the natural region of Casamance has been plunged into a situation of "neither war nor peace", which has caused social instability in certain areas where repeated clashes and episodic violence maintain the status quo of permanent insecurity that prevents people from exploiting their fields and forest resources. This situation has favoured a massive displacement of the populations to other places where they will be faced with a situation of social and economic insecurity which demonstrates the need for permanent adaptation. On the basis of a series of long-term surveys carried out between 2014 and 2018, this article attempts to take stock of the situation of these displaced people in Casamance.