The nomination of Beydane administrators aims at very dangerous objectives for the populations of the South. We shall mainly speak of two:

The administrative, police and customs barriers

They aim at breaking any link existing between the citizens of both riversides inhabited by the same families, Wolofs in the low valley, Haalpulaaren and Soninke in the medium valley, and Soninke in upper Senegal.

One cannot prevent the Walo-walo from living freely in Brenn, in Rosso Senegal, in Gae-Gani, in Rosso Mauritania, and in Dagana. Waalo is one - it is his or her historical fatherland.

One cannot prevent the Fuutanke from living freely in Tekane, in Podor, in Wocci, in Hoorefonde, in Bokkijawe, in Kaédi, and in Matam. Fuuta is one - it is his or her historical fatherland.

One cannot, finally, ask a Gidimakhanke not to live freely in Wompu, in Bakel, in Boully, and in Gemou. Gidimakha is one - it is his or her historical fatherland.

In spite of colonial borderlines which divided their territories of movement, one cannot prevent the Hel Barikallah, the Rgeibat, the Hel Mohamed Fadel or Tekna from feeling Mauritanian and Saharaouis. The Beydane State favors this policy of assimilation by granting the Saharaouis Rgeibat or Tekna Mauritanian citizenship while it practices in the South, with even more complex historical and cultural realities, a discriminatory policy:

- To the inhabitants of the right bank (Mauritanian) they apply one administrative Malthusianism (refer to prior passage);

- To those living on the left bank of the river (Senegalese) they apply a policy of administrative pushing back and damming.

Any Soninke is at home in Mauritania, in Senegal and in Mali. Every Fuutanke, every Waalo-waalo is at home in Mauritania and in Senegal. Mauritania was created on the soil of the ancient Tekrour, a land where these ethnic groups were created, before they became more individual and developed into three ethnic groups.

The second objective of the Beydane State in the South:

Is the confiscation of alluvial lands of the river Senegal. As a matter of fact, these lands are taking more and more a considerable economic importance for the political and bourgeois class, due to the drought and because of the regulation and retention of the waters of the river Senegal (Diama, Manantali). We shall come back to it in the chapter dedicated to economy.

II) ECONOMY

In Mauritania, it is incontestable that the economy (industry, trades, banks, fisheries, etc) is almost entirely controlled by Beydane Middle class. Some people raise the question of why and how the Beydane ethnic group, which, twenty years ago, was at the same economic and social level as the black community can be in full control of the economy of this country today:

People ignore indeed the following realities:

During the first years of the decade between 1960 and 1970, the monopoly of trade was shared between the Soninke, Fulani, and Lebanese Syrian and Beydane dealers;

The trade of livestock in the peanut basin, during colonial period did not concern Beydanes only. The Fulani ethnic group living on both sides of the River Senegal and those from the Ferlo was particularly involved also;

- After independence, the Fulani (ancient owners of livestock concerned by this trade) and Soninke dealers who used to do business in the entire AOF, AEF, the English colonies of the Gambia and Sierra Leone and in Guinea Bissau particularly opened the markets of the Capital Nouakchott and the area of Ksar. Between 1967 (after the racial events) and 1983, almost all black dealers ended up leaving their stores and boutiques under pressure of the Beydane businessmen with the help of banks and national services of trade. Today, in the market of the capital, the black dealers are no more than three!!!

- If the gift of trade exists, that of Soninke ethnic group is still indeed more remarkable. It is legendary. This ethnic group controlled the trade between Sahel and the forested zones at the times of the empires of Ghana (6th century), Mali (13- 16th century) and of Gao (14 - 16th century). In the time being, dealers from the same ethnic group still monopolize business trade in general in Western Africa. We find them also in Central and Southern Africa in the traffic of gold and diamond with Europe. They wonder why they do not succeed in expressing themselves in Mauritania, their historical fatherland.

Such inversion of situation finds its explication, in reality, within a countrywide difficulty. A racial, cultural or social community which acts selfishly counters the general interests of the country cannot assure its permanent domination on others. There is only cohesion in power when each of the three factors (politics, culture, and economy) guarantees the assertion of every other one. When one makes defect in the assertion of power, workability and durability of the system are not any more guaranteed.

The inversion of this situation we spoke above is only as a result of a policy, the performance of which has begun some years now, and that aims at putting in control its comprador Beydane middle classes in all vanguard, decisive economic and cultural areas of the country.

A / THE TERMS OF FORMATION OF BEYDANE MIDDLE CLASSES

Two important factors contributed to the launching of the process of domination and its acceleration:

-The political will of the Beydane System of governing, which was translated into a sly practice of racial discrimination in employment (political, administrative and diplomacy);

-Discriminating in “loans” requirements eligibility.

1 °/discrimination in employment

A Chinese proverb said: "If you give a fish to somebody, you feed him one time - if you show him how to fish, you feed him for life".

By giving job preferably to Beydanes, the State changed the social structure of the society. The Beydanes learned to upgrade their life conditions and to belong to the upper level of the society while Blacks are turned down for job placements because of the color of their skin and not based on their knowledge or skills.

In 1985, the purchasing power considered as a whole is much more important for Beydanes than for Blacks (Haratin, Soninke, Wolof, Bambara and Fulani combined) from both the quantity of workers from both groups and the pay rate. There are more Beydane workers than all black ethnic groups combined and the wage earning for Beydane workers is higher than black workers even with the same grade or occupation. This situation results from a neat policy of racial discrimination, which affects the Black community in employment for several years.

This discrimination is visible at two levels of employment:

a) Medium and lower categories of administrative and political areas and working class

All the public and para public areas are concerned.

Let us analyze few examples:

A-1: banks like: BCM, BIMA, BMAA, SMB, BALM, BMDC and BAMIS.

It is enough to visit these banks to realize the consequences of this racial policy.

In some of them, Black employees represent between 2 and 5 % of all yearly enrollments. This is the case of the following banks: BALM, SMB, BCM and BMAA.

In January 1986, in the hiring process of tellers, the Islamic Bank (BAMIS) had made a primary requirement for applicants, to be able to speak fluent Arabic: be bilingual. In Mauritania, this expression “bilingual” became the equivalent of the password to enter Aladdin's cave: “Sesame open yourself”. It is a “magical” mean to give job to Beydanes, and to reject black applicants from all available jobs. On 36 of the new BAMIS recruits, only one of them was black.

Of course, the knowledge of the Arab language was a pretext to cast a shadow on the discriminating and racist intentions of this bank. However, the same institution that was hiring in Dakar did not require Arabic fluency as a primary requirement to employment. French is the functioning language within this bank. More seriously: the headquarters of this Islamic Bank is in the Bahamas (English Antilles).

A-2: Public health:

In this area, it is the theories of the so-called Dr Hassan Petit Hassan and of Mohamed O/ Deh, issued during a seminary on health in Atar in October 1983 that have force of law.

According to these two ideologists, “there would be too many Black employees serving in the public health sector. Since black doctors, and nurses do not speak Arabic in general, and Beydane patients are illiterate (not speaking the official language of the country, which is French), therefore they cannot communicate with the Beydane patients; it would be necessary to train a new Arabic speaking personnel from the Arabic community to replace black workers in public health”. The new Beydane personnel should then be dispatched to the national hospital in Nouakchott and in Iraq resulting to a new policy:”The Black doctors should treat Black patients, and Beydane doctors should cure Beydane patients!” That was the beginning of the Apartheid practices in Health care!

After all, this implementation by force of the Arabic language over the black population has a long-term purpose of substituting Negro-Mauritanian personnel from the health care system. In order to do so, it is necessary for the government to find all means, excuses and subterfuges to provide Beydanes with jobs and to disqualify black candidates.

A-3: The emigration organized towards Arab countries:

Almost all of the Mauritanians who were recruited to serve as workers like policemen in the United Arab Emirates are Beydanes.

b) High authority jobs in public administration, economy and military.

It is therefore about all positions of responsibility in the administration, public labor, military, Police, Public agencies that were now using the fluency in Arabic as a prerequisite to recruitment of workers.

B-1: the middle classes of political and administrative origin:

The main consequence at this level is a formation of a new political and administrative middle class composed primarily of retired high ranked workers of the government. These people had occupied important jobs in the past like (Ministers, general secretaries, Ambassadors, Governors, Chairmen and CEO of public agencies, managers and banks directors, etc) who were known for abusing public properties that they were responsible of while they were serving in the government. Most of these crimes of stealing public properties are left with no prosecution. These important sums of government money are invested in real estate properties, trade and more newly in industry. That was the money used as investment capital for the economic activities of these, the new middle class that took its origins from their administrative or political favors. The private companies representing the investment from that illegal money are: SAFOR, SOMAFOR, SLAM, Benin Chaab, Deco-meubles, Establishment EMEL, etc.

B-2: The middle classes of political and military origin:

This new group was born during the war of Sahara. Some of its members became rich by rerouting the budgets of military forces, which they were commanding during that time. Lt Colonel Brahim O/ (actual Alioune N' Diaye Minister of Commerce), Lt Colonel Gabriel Saint Père alias Djibril O/ Abdallah (actual national head of state Security), Mohamed O/ Louly (the ancient president of the CMSN) are a prototype of this group. These listed people were the first generation of commanders and high ranked officers to get away with government money at no risk.

The second appeared with military officers’ arrivals to power: Commander Mohamed Mahmoud O/ Deh (actual Permanent of the CMSN implicated successively in illegal traffic of government assets while he was managing the national bureau of customs. He was the first Mauritanian to implement an underground sales network of illegal videotapes from Las-Palmas). He also was involved in the case of massive fraud of pharmaceutical items while he was heading the ministry of Health; Lt Colonel Brahim O/ N Diaye in the region of Nouakchott (illegal orders of equipments of rail and the case of missing waterways items from the seaport of Nouakchott, illegal massive sale of government real estate properties); commander N' Diayane (actual Commander of the 6th military region) in the affair of the Nouakchott’s Harbor and in that of the ministry of equipment. The case of missing or illegally sold items by high ranked officers and commanders concerns also Lt Colonel Djibril O/ Abdallah and many others.

All these officers who stole the property of the government remain unpunished. However some rare government workers and Negro-Mauritanian civilians who made this type of misconduct were sent to court, imprisoned, humiliated and required to reimburse colossal amounts of money. In most cases, the Blacks accused in those cases were only victims of political and administrative plots aiming at breaking their careers and to humiliate them in the eyes of Mauritanian national opinion.

Did one ever see Beydanes judged and imprisoned because of stealing government assets?

That has never happened.

This favoritism to the Beydane community in employment, which is for the majority a source of enrichment, is reinforced by the system of banking loans by kindness.

2 °/-The banking loans

They are decisive in the enrichment and economic strengthening of the Beydane middle classes. These loans allow elements of these middle classes to invest in commerce, industry and real estate properties. The racial discrimination in the banking system helps the Beydane middle class to stifle any try of economic blossoming of a Negro-Mauritanian middle class, because the Beydane System fears that the development of a Negro-Mauritanian middle class might constitute a menace to the hegemony of the Beydane community. The banking opportunities granted to the local dealers of FIAT, HONDA and RENAULT, to the large retailers Sidi O/ Burro, Nueged and others illustrate well this policy.

We cannot therefore accept the theory of the existence of a national middle class, which would transcend the color of skin factor to favor only economic solidarity. In Mauritania, there are two racial middle classes: the Black and the Beydane. The first one is financially handicapped due to the fact that it has never benefited from a political support, contrary to the Beydane class.

Regarding the banking system, few of the most known unrealistic loans that have caught everyone’s attention was the 800 million UM loan granted to O/ Mogueya, 700 millions and then 45 millions granted to Boucheïba. Besides the financial opportunities, the Beydane government gave out all contracts to the Beydane middle class such as infrastructure construction projects such as buildings, roads, dams, etc, and many other projects related to the transportation of equipments, the distribution of food for families in need and in this case only Beydane families were served.

Corruption within the Beydane community and administrative pressures from the government guided this injustice all the way through. Inside these Beydane middle classes also, there are lobbies. Each is linked to a political lobby that grants its members financial and commercial privileges. The group that was linked for instance to the regime of Haidalla, will permit Sidi O / Abdallahi to buy stocks detained by the State of Mauritania at the Arab and African Bank of Mauritania BAAM. This bank will be renamed the “Mauritanian Arab and African Bank” (BMAA). Other transactions will later allow him to buy government stocks at the SPPM (The Company for the Promotion of Fisheries in Mauritania). The Government sold him at a very stumpy price all the fishing equipment. As he is now the main stockholder of this public company, he is also the main employee with a wage of 200,000 UM and an indemnification of 80,000 UM a month. He would scam also the company by renting only his buildings and cars to the company. The SOCOMETAL Company (Renault) and Honda will be sharing about 80 % of motor vehicle orders of the government.

Besides the continuous support of the government of Mauritania, the Beydane community and its middle classes will also benefit from the support of Arab countries. This help takes an official character across workers' conscription, which are sent to these countries, and across different investments orientated to plans which concern only regions populated by Beydanes: Adrar, Tagant and Assaba especially (agriculture, hospital complexes, construction projects, asphalted roads and bridges and teaching complexes and schools).

We shall come back to the agrarian amenities in the chapter dedicated to agriculture.

In the meantime let us talk about the semiofficial help, which is translated by “loans” granted, by certain banks as BALM and BAAM.

3 °/Foreign Arab countries support

Between 1970 and 1980, Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Algeria particularly) granted to Mauritania important sums of money in form of gifts and loans. Through certain banks BALM (Libyan Arab Bank of Mauritania), BAAM (Arab and African Bank of Mauritania), BMDC (Mauritanian Bank for Development and Commerce) important sums were generously "lent" between 1970 and 1974 by Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq to Beydane dealers.

Those loans contributed to make Abdallah O/ Abdallahi, Nouegued, the brothers Sakaly (Abdel Hay and Ma El Aïnin), Sidina O/ Berrou (SOB), Veten, (...) Gralicoma, etc the richest dealers of the Beydane middle classes fabricated by today Arab economic nationalism. Besides these “loans”, another example to illustrate this economic support of Arab countries is the concerted order by their embassies accredited in Nouakchott to buy vehicles only from Beydane dealers: (Commercial Fiat Grouping), Mercedes (Somarem), Honda, Renault (Socométal). The countries that responded positively to this order of buying only Beydane dealers’ cars are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Qatar. As we can understand it, the hegemony of the Beydane middle classes does not emerge from an internal dynamism, from skills to develop their economic and commercial activities, but from a will of a political system aiming at giving control of the economy of the country to a favored social category. The Beydane middle classes benefited from the political and financial support of this system and from Arab nationalism.

We will emphasize here and in certain areas of the government like the administration and ministries what is the part reserved to black intellectuals when it comes to employment and sharing of responsibilities.

Over 33 banks, organisms, private and public companies, only eight (8) positions are occupied by Blacks (see table)

This account is disabling for the Negro-Mauritanian community. The Beydane community controls almost entirely all areas of the economy. The black community is under menace of existence at all times. What the Beydane dealers and businessmen would need to do is to organize a commerce embargo against the Black citizens and they would all die from hunger. The commerce tool became a formidable political and economic weapon in the hands of Beydanes.

It is clear that the objective of the Beydane system was to control systematically all the areas of the Mauritanian economy: banks, commerce, fisheries, and mines. Having understood the economic benefits of the new project of irrigations by the OMVS, which will help develop agriculture in lands exploited by Negro-Mauritanians, the government will now start thinking about a new strategy to expropriate fertile alluvial lands from black citizens. For several years, the government is preparing to apply a judicial land reform that will take millions of acres from black farmers and turned it to Beydane businessmen.

B/ THE FERTILE LANDS OF WAALO: THE STAKES OF A POLITICAL AND LAND REFORM

The history of the lands of Waalo becomes interconnected with that of Soninke populations, Wolof, Fulani that live in this part of the valley of the Senegal River. In spite of drought, the lands of the Waalo remain another bottomless economic potential, able of nourishing all the populations of the valley of River Senegal, living in Mauritania, in Senegal and in Mali. To obtain that objective, only a rational utilization of the land and water is necessary. The concerned countries want, by means of OMVS (Organization for the Valorization of River Senegal), to overcome this problem of underproduction in the valley to make sure that the populations are able to feed themselves.

At first the regime of Moktar O/ Daddah had joined the OERS (Organization of Countries surrounding the River Senegal) that will be later renamed OMVS for reasons primarily related to sub-regional policy. The economic factor could not be a preoccupation of this regime and the Beydane political class in general, who interpreted the OMVS as only a sub-regional organization for the economic and social development of Southern Mauritania occupied in majority by blacks. That was where they got the slogan:” let’s screw up the OMVS, because it will be for the benefit of Blacks only. The theory of Daddah on the development of the South was known: a developed South inhabited by Blacks would be a political threat because Senegal has never abandoned definitely its ancient territories of the right side of the river. A poor territory is hardly tempting for irredentist minds. It is therefore necessary to support an impoverished, and a divested South that will economically depend on the North. It is based on this perspective that the government set its priorities for the North and cancelled numerous plans of industrial and agrarian development intended initially for the valley of the Mauritanian side of Senegal River:

- Sugar manufacturing company was installed in Nouakchott instead of Kaédi,

- A project of building an asphalted road linking up Rosso with Sélibaby was then cancelled,

- Agrarian investments for Gorgol was then confiscated and relocated to the Hodh in 1965.

Investments of small and medium perimeters were confiscated and relocated to Adrar and Tagant to develop palm trees farms, etc.

If Germany, the World Bank and the People’s Republic of China, the rice-growing perimeter of Rosso, the PPG of Kaédi and CPB (the pilot project of Boghé) would never be completed.

From 1978, a group of pressure forming against the participation of Mauritania in the OMVS was formed. Its main leaders were: Mr. Mohamed O/ Seybout (then juridical advisor of the OMVS), Youba O/ Benani (then Director of the National company of Development- SONADER), Mohameden O/ Baba (actual manager of SONADER), Mokhtar O/ Zamel (then minister of Plan), Sid' Ahmed O/ Bneïjara (then Finance Minister) and Ely O/ Alaf, former general secretary of OMVS. This group had published a memorandum aimed at showing the lack of economic interests that Mauritania would find within this organism. According to this document, only Senegal and Mali were indeed going to benefit from the project. In compensation for the departure of Mauritania of OMVS, Arab countries (Libya, Iraq, Kuwait) and the FADES (Arab Funds for Economic and social Development) offered to finance agrarian amenities in regions with dominant Beydane feature or exclusively Beydane: Iraq has then financed the project of Aftout, SAMALIDA (Libyan and Mauritanian company for Agrarian Development) which simply confiscated lands from black farmers of the region of Rosso, and FADES worked on the oasis reconstitution project in Adrar, Assaba and Tagant. It is on this concept that the general secretary of the Arab organization for Agrarian Development performed a business visit in Nouakchott on November 1985. The Arab agrarian institutions have rushed towards the lands of Waalo.

But attempts to pull off Mauritania from OMVS remained unsuccessful until this day. The threat of a racial conflict and serious political consequences for “an exclusively Beydane Mauritania” in the sub-region are the main reasons that have prevented the Beydane governments from doing so.

Besides that drought and famine are going to bring some change in Beydane opinion on agrarian amenities in the south and on OMVS.

This drought also caused an important movement of stricken populations towards the administrative and economic urban centers. The valley of the Senegal (both riversides) is one of the regions that would welcome nomadic populations and their herds. This massive arrival of foreign populations became a political and economic threat for a South that is characterized by the smallness of useful lands, which has already formed a fragile equilibrium, before the drought, with its autochthonous populations. Famine, exodus and clamping of nomadic Arab-Berbers and their herds in the South are therefore the new factor, which will lead the political and intellectual Beydane class to change its opinion on OMVS and its amenities: the theory of the vital space was born. This class agrees for the creation of big and small agrarian amenities in the valley and managed by SONADER (since this company is entirely controlled by Beydanes); they also turned around and agreed that Mauritania should entirely be part of the OMVS and should take responsibility to develop the south. But the precondition of all this is the redistribution of alluvial lands of the Senegal River, so that Beydane populations can benefit from it!!

In order to ensure that the Beydane populations will benefit a big part of these lands were taken away from black farmers. The government will use three ways:

1/-A juridical land reform

2/-the buying of lands thanks to money from loans provided by the banks of the State of Mauritania, the National Fund and certain Arab countries to Beydane dealers and other people from the political and military middle class.

3/-a historical argumentation to show the anteriority of Beydanes on the Mauritanian soil.

1) °/The land reform

A) To legalize this confiscation of black farmers’ lands, the government of Haïdallah issued the decree n ° 83 127 of June 5th, 1983 carrying out land reorganization.

This "land reform" concerns particularly the lands of the valley of River Senegal, which basically represent the majority of suitable for agriculture lands necessary to grant to the country self-sufficiency in the production of its own food. But behind this slogan, it aimed at a double objective.

The legalized confiscation of fertile lands by the Beydane middle classes or by Beydane populations, particularly to whom the government allow the acquisition of lands.

B) Socially by trying to redirect legitimate and irrevocable social and economic claims of Haratines towards these lands of Waalo, to provoke opposing polarity between elements within the Negro-Mauritanian community. We all know that the Haratines also have long legitimate and irrevocable social and economic claims. This new adjustment was to redirect the claim.

They grab hardly this unusual altruism of Beydanes that make glisten lands to Haratine peasants. The oasis from the center and the North-East were cultivated by generations of slaves but there was never a question to install the Haratines peasants into these farms.

2) The buying of land

The decree n ° 83 127, notably in its articles 1, 3, 9, 11, 12 and 14 favors the buying of land. In the interpretation of this decree, we remain persuaded that the legislator (who can be only Beydane) ignores all the civilization realities of our communities (Fulani, Wolof, Soninke) for whom agriculture is the main foundation of the socioeconomic, political and cultural structure.

There are two types of farmers, who buy the land:

- Elements of “the Beydane middle class that drew its wealth from fraud and government money deferrals" like Lt Colonel Boukrraiss, O/ Alioune N' Diaye, Djibril O/ Abdallah, commander O/ Dey and the big retailers, on one side;

-On the other hand, there are “Agrarian Beydane cooperatives” that in reality are a union of small and average dealers who cannot afford investing alone.

The first group exploits lands confiscated by agrarian workers (for most Haratines, and in few exceptions Waalo-Waalo and Fulani).

The second group called the “Beydanes agricultural cooperatives” officially assimilates their employees as partners, just to outline the law 67/71 of July 18th, 1967 carrying status of collaboration.

These listed middle classes benefit from financial participations from banks, the National Fund of Development and from Arab countries in a form of loans and donations to buy and exploit lands.

We seize this opportunity to remind the populations of Southern Mauritania that it is officially forbidden to sell the land. It is not a private propriety but a community land. Boycott, banish, and forcefully oppose all those who encourage the personal commercialization of community lands. Destroy, burn the property of these foreigners who come to do up on your lands. The land belongs to the village. The only allowable land reform for us is the one who allows the redistribution of the land proportionally with requirements between all the members of the village.

Hard economic terms due to drought make peasants of the South easy preys faced with the ferocity of these political middle classes - serviceman-shopkeeper. The population of the South, victim of malnutrition gives up quickly, falling to the temptation and mirage of the sums of money, which these sharks agitate in front of them.

We will take this opportunity to denounce the discriminatory policy afflicted to the Negro-Mauritanian community in the access to international food donations. Mauritania benefits from an international food donation intended for its whole population victim of drought and famine, and not almost exclusively to the Beydane population. The Baassistes and Nasserites chauvinistic members that direct the C.A.A. don’t deserve all the trust of foreign donors. Regions with Arab dominant feature are packed in food products coming from these donations while Southern Mauritania, which is more populated, receives help only once every two (2) to three (3) years. The regional administration in the South, controlled almost exclusively by Beydanes, is playing a fundamental role in this discrimination process in collaboration with the C.A.A. In many written letters, the Beydane administration has instructed that donations not to be sent to Southern Mauritania. They have reported that the Negro-Mauritanian population is not in need of help of that nature. That is the main reason why practically all donations have been sent to Beydane populations only. In addition to that unfair process, the authorities of Mauritania and the C.A.A remain insensitive by nature to the protestations of black populations.

However, a part of these donations continues to be illegally rerouted and sent to Beydane populations in the Western Sahara.

This situation makes us claim the physical presence of representatives of donor organizations to supervise and control the share-out of their donations in all the country without racial discrimination.

3 / historical argumentation

For the past few years, ironic historical theories continue to be highlighted by Beydane intellectual class researches. They argue that Beydane population had first occupied Southern Mauritania before Blacks came in. This theory is motivated by the fact that Beydane intellectuals want to retrieve the black population of the agriculturally fertile lands of the River Senegal to install nomad Beydane populations who are recently victim of drought in the North, center and East of Mauritania. Beydane populations and cattle migrate then for a permanent occupation of lands where black farmers practice agriculture as a dominant subsistence activity. The smallness of the space and the new demographic growth of populations created permanent racial conflicts with demolition of black farms by Beydane cattle. This has generated armed attacks and serious physical aggressions against farmers resulting in few cases in death. The incidents of Lexeïba in Gorgol in 1985 are here to edify us of the reality of this menace, but it seems that the government encourages those events to repeat themselves elsewhere. Any legitimate defense reaction on behalf of the Blacks is suppressed by regional authorities (Beydane governors, commune representatives, chiefs of districts, commanders of police forces, etc). This happens so often under the eyes of the authorities, who are partisans of Beydane cattle owners that black farmers do not dare to resist while Beydane cattle are devastating their farms. They do not dare to protect their farms even any more by using iron fences just not to injure any Beydane domestic animal. If any time a farmer’s fence injures a Beydane domestic animal, the farmer would end up tortured, jailed and amended for hundreds of thousands. A camel that belongs to a Beydane became the scariest predator for the farmers of Jeeri and Waalo, even far more than cynocephalus and locusts.

Certain nomadic families have settled in the cities of Rosso, Bogué, Kaédi, Bababe, M’bagne, Magama, Sélibaby, and Gouraye etc. The Beydane administrators of these counties will distribute them free but already owned lots and yards in Boghé, Kaédi, Sélibaby, Bababé, etc: new blocks are born and they are called “Jreida”, which means new in the Beydane language. The Beydane administrators have never stopped them; they are still pursuing the expropriation of black lands they have started, but this time at a higher level. They are now confiscating thousands of lands and thousands of fertile acres owned by black families for over centuries to redistribute them for free to the Beydane newcomers under pretext that they are victims of drought. But, are not the Blacks in need also? The administrators have taken advantage of the system by dishonestly interpreting the land reform decree for their own favor. In its article 1, for instance, they pretend that “the land belongs to the nation of Mauritania and every citizen with no discrimination can own a piece of land by confirming himself to the applicable rules and regulations”. This illegal decree has dispossessed every citizen from his or her piece of land opening the way to Beydane administrators to rule black farmers and land owners.

Faced with the vivacious defensive reactions of interests from the Black community, the Beydane intelligentsia starts to invent historical theories to justify the pretensions of their community:

According to the new theory brought out by Beydane intellectuals, “The Negro-Mauritanian population is a progenitor of ancient soccer players immigrated from Mali, Senegal and Guinea.” “Beydane are the Palestinians of Mauritania of whom the land was despoiled by the Black citizens which they call: Mauritanian Jewish”! The Arabic newspaper “Watan Al Arabia” wrote, “Mauritania is the second Palestine of Arab fatherland”!! A Nasserist student said in 1983 during a conference held by the Director of the National Institute of Languages (ILN) that “Negro-Mauritanians are Senegalese who have pervaded Mauritania”. Everywhere in the country, during public conversation in offices, markets, streets, cars, public transportation, etc, you can hear Beydane citizen claming: “If Blacks are not happy in Mauritania, they can go back home to Senegal”.

The commander Ahmed Mahmoud O/ Deh, the Permanent actual and politico-military leader of the CMSN said: “Blacks are Senegalese who pervade us through our administrations. They are even within the CMSN”!!

These theories invented by Beydane intellectuals to eject black citizens from Mauritania in general and from the South in particular are so deep in the community that they are taught in the history and geography of Arabic countries in Kuwait.

There is doubt that these ideas have been around for a long time. We still can remember Sheikh Sidya Baba who, during the colonization of Mauritania, in a letter addressed to the governor Copolani had requested that “black populations should be deported from southern Mauritania, because, the lands they are occupying belongs to Beydanes”. According to all these Beydane invented versions of the Mauritanian history; the country was a virgin land before the arrival of Beydanes. Very similar case with theory on the anteriority of the lands occupation in Southern Africa developed by the very well known Apartheid.

Anyway, the Negro Mauritanian community must take very seriously all these historical pretexts, which are nonetheless, a logistical provision for the program of confiscation of productive lands of the South.

In 1960, we had taken claims for ideological and cultural ranting for the transformation of Mauritania to an Arabic country that Beydanes has already assimilated with the Arab world. In 1985, here is where we are: 95% of Mauritania has been forced to use Arabic and the Black population is threatened with expulsion from their historical fatherland. Somebody wrote “... In the evolution of classes (for the Mauritanian case, we can considerer races instead of classes), history is part of instruments by which the ruling classes make compulsory its power. The government tries to impose a fabricated past for our community both politically and ideologically. The government reorganizes history and manufactures its appearance according to its political and ideological interests”.

III) ARMY

We will highlight our national army for two major reasons:

On the time being, the army exercises and maintains the power, in the future; it may play a decisive role in finding an honorific way of the racial conflict.

The war of Sahara has contributed to reward the army for the role it occupies nowadays in our country. The military coup of July 10th, 1978, has taken the army to the middle of the political stage of the country. The army has become now the first political force with which it is consequently necessary to cooperate with. Of course, you should not consider here the term “political force” as an organized political party with a program, an ideology that refers to its members or something similar. The Mauritanian army has nothing of that kind. We call it “political force” because it controls power by means of weapon. In another way, the army has neither this cohesion, nor this solidarity between members who make the force of a political party. In its structure, members are considered according to their origin groups: Blacks and Beydanes.

Due to its double vocation (military by its structure and political by the political power which it controls), the Mauritanian army became from 1979 an employment opportunity and a political stake where Beydane tribes lobbies are constantly fighting for its control. Of course some black officers, motivated by no political ambition, has limited themselves with being used by one or another lobbies, in exchange of compensation most of the time in form of ministerial positions or other public companies directors jobs. These individual opportunities made them forget their belonging to a community oppressed by their promoters. They even do not care of defending their often-derided respectability. However, on the other side, Beydane high ranked officers or government workers, faithful with their mission, never hesitate to defend the interests of their community in general, or those of their respective tribes in particular. The Mauritanian army consequently does not stay away from cultural conflict and racial discrimination that divide the country into two racial camps. None of the Beydane regimes that have succeeded one another since 1960 has worked on building a national unity that would transcend the development of a racial or individual interest of both communities. In an interview that Maouiya Ould Taya had granted to “Jeune Afrique”, he has proved that he had a mindset of this policy of discrimination and selfishness for his Beydane’s community only.

Let us take an example to illustrate this discrimination within the army. After the independence of the Mauritanian nation, to avoid the only Commander of the Mauritanian army, Diallo (who was black) to be the Chief of the newly created young army, O/ Daddah and his French military advisers recruited few young Beydane teachers (Mbarek, Sheikh O/ Beyda, Hussein and Salek) and sent them to the French Military school. Just after their graduation, Mbarek was dispatched to Mauritania and take over the direction of the army. Commander Diallo with all his experience and army merits and decorations were simply moved aside.

The Colonel Yall Abdoulaye was the first Black to take functions as a Chief of the army in Mauritania after 25 years of hard work and dedicated service. Of course, the Beydane government does not choose the chief of the army or its assistant by competence. Most of those black officers chosen to administrate those positions had clearly showed their lack of political ambition or their leadership in fighting for equality within Mauritanian communities. They are simply black puppets with uniforms used by the government to serve as equilibrium or regulating elements between the Beydane political lobbies that took their origin from Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Iraq in their consistent battle to control the power in within themselves.

As everywhere else, the new implementation of Arabic as an official language has cracked down this already frail army.

The implementation of the Arabic as the new official language in replacement of French in the army is comparable to the one that has afflicted the education system and the economy of the country.

Let us take an example:

In 1984, after studying all the numbers given out, among 18 officers of state police hired by the government, only one would be black.

On 12 hired nurses at public hospitals, one only would be black.

In 1985 (July exam)

- On 59 accepted officers, five only were Blacks, which is about 8.47 % of all admissions,

- On 98 non commissioned officers, only 23 were black, which represents 23.46 %.

The Army headquarters had reserved 50 % of positions to Arabic speakers only (Beydanes). That would disqualify black candidates from half of all open positions. In the other side, the government has created all kind of difficulties to those Black candidates who speak Arabic (sometimes more competent) because a certain mentality supposes hardly that a Black can master the Arab language better than a Beydane!! Can these people assume that French and English are not any more the prerogative of people who created them?

The remaining half of open positions is divided in 25 % for bilingual (still Beydanes because few blacks speak both French and Arabic) and the other 25 % for French speakers (both Blacks and Beydane).

In this last quarter, black representation of the national percentage is between 15 and 20 % according to many years of study.

The other main obstacle black candidates are facing is the correction of exams that is almost exclusively made by Beydanes either military or civil workers, French, Tunisians and Palestinians. The Lieutenant-colonel Boukhreiss crossed the line when he was heading the military instruction school of Atar. He elevated the admission coefficient of the Arabic from 2 to 8 to minimize black entries into our only military academy. As known from now, the success in that military academy is no longer based on the technical knowledge but on the only knowledge of the Arabic as if it was a school of literature.

Algeria and Iraq are the Arab countries where Black student officers and high ranked officers suffer the most. In the military academies of these two Arab countries, the barriers have been increased from humiliation, moral torture to racism, etc) just to make them resign from the army forces or to request their own repatriation to Mauritania which would mean the same thing anyway.

Racial repartition of ranks: from majors to captains.

In the hiring of position that carries out high responsibilities within the police, customs and military forces, the same discrimination policies are applied.

Among the 15 Regiments of National Security, Police Headquarters, National Guard, Military Regions Commands (6), Public sectors (2), Garim, Navy, Military Academy of Atar, only four blacks are untitled to run positions of high responsibilities.

The consequence of this planed policy is progressively diminishing the percentage of black officials among the army.

Surely, this handicap can be compensated by the dynamism of certain survivors of this discriminatory policy. But, this is not the case. We all know that the military may have to play a decisive role in the struggle of liberation of Blacks from the domination of the Beydane System.

IV) MASS MEDIAS

In the field of media, the discrimination policy that was inaugurated from our day one of independence was well reinforced. At that time, the media was used to assimilate the racial discrimination and to make people accept it as a normal thing in our society. Then, the only one national radio station we had was used for that purpose. Now, this assimilation technique has gain the national TV and the National newspaper of Mauritania. The used policy of assimilation play in every sociology by granting more broadcasting hours to the Beydane and making everyone assume that the Beydane population is demographically much more than the black population. On the other side, the government of Mauritania wanted to give impression that Mauritania is exclusively an Arab country. For that purpose, the hours of high audience were granted to Beydane journalists to carry out the message of Arab nationalism. So, since our independence, it became a tradition. The hours from 8:30PM to the early morning are always granted to Beydane broadcasters.

Division of Radio Programs at the National Radio

The National and the only TV station of the country as well was affected by this discrimination but has just a slightly worst proportionality of the broadcasting time. It all let you think that it is a Beydane channel and nothing else as you review the weekly program bellow that is running for years.

It is not necessary to accompany this table with commentaries. Read the table yourself and pull out your own conclusion.

The national newspaper, Chaab, in its Arab version was always used to discredit the Blacks and their culture. The version Arab of the Chaab is nothing else than a mean for racist writers to get away with racists comments toward the black community exactly as it is in South Africa.

This policy cannot succeed without the complicity of the tenors of the national media. Always and today more than ever, the Beydane classes monopolize the national media:

The Beydane intellectuals always hold all the following and only positions of decision-making with no exceptions:

- Minister of information and communication

- General Secretary and executive assistant

- All advisers to the communication minister

- The acting director of the national Radio and TV of Mauritania (ORTM)

- The executive director of Chaab (newspaper)

- The executive director of the National agency of information (AMI)

The Managers of all departments in the media area are almost Beydanes. With such staff, the permanence of injustice and disinformation against the Blacks are assured, and this is happening while the best-awarded journalists of the nation who have proven their knowledge and skills in the journalism field are blacks.

The tendency to transform our media to Arabic press agencies is a totally proven willingness to get rid of all non-Beydane journalists that are still around. If this statement is wrong, why does no Negro-Mauritanian journalist ever get hired to broadcast news at the radio or TV station? Even though, some of the Negro-Mauritanian journalists are graduated from Arabic schools and perfectly speak and write Arabic.

V) THE MAURITANIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: a unique system of assimilation

A) The new reforms: Systematization of Arabic usage

1°/ The Myth

The cultural discrepancy is one of most debated issues in Mauritania at a point that foreign and non-informed citizens have a tendency to consider it as the main fluctuation between Negro-Mauritanians and Beydanes. It is clear that the cultural problem is very sensitive because it visibly affects the most vital interests of each community and it provokes a nationalism reaction from all components of Mauritanian communities. Even these two major communities have cohabited in the past with conflicts and coalitions from time to time, the French colonialism has contributed to exacerbate their contradictions and better to divide them while accepting the exclusive teaching of one’s community language and while ignoring the second community.

This was done with the introduction of the first school reform of 1959, which had an objective to adapt the teaching to the Beydane community’s culture and aspirations. The colonial authorities of French had shown their first contempt to the Negro-Mauritanian cultural and ideological values, with their compassion to the implementation of this discriminatory policy.

The French colonialist government promoted the myth of a fictitious Arabic population majority while working on maintaining the black population under domination to justify the transfer of power to the Beydane political class. In doing so, the French colonialists have clearly opened the way to all Beydane regimes who have succeed in their policy of domination.

Since the time of independence, the majority of students and school workers, administration workers are blacks; the newly installed Beydane government will then have to “clean up” the administration from its blacks. That was where Mokhtar Ould Daddah had to focus his efforts. He had the clear duty to make the Beydane community not only to catch up with that gap they have encountered especially in education but also to conceive a path for the Beydane class to take over all economic, political, cultural and educational sectors of the country. He laid the foundation for all the political systems that succeeded; but it was necessary at the start to reverse a tendency: the supremacy of the Black ones in the school and in administration; this is thereto where Mokhtar O/ Daddah where to start from.

The recuperation strategy went through by using a cultural oppression via the forced usage of Arabic in the whole country. In fact, Cheikh Anta Diop said that the cultural imperialism is the security of the economical imperialism. Daddah had understood this and put all his efforts into its practices for the interest of the Beydane community. Thereafter, all Beydane military regimes that came after will follow the same system.

a) The force usage of Arabic: A powerful mean of favoritism and discrimination

The forced usage of Arabic as an official language in Mauritania will appear progressively with its recurrent reforms in the educational system as a powerful inequitable selective mean at the beginning and later as a massive discrimination tool against the Black community. At the beginning of its execution, the Arabic usage as an official language will be used to cover up the racism that becomes now known as we look at the employment statistics and eligibility, the army recruitment practices, the statistics inside the government promotions that are no longer based on skills and competences, etc.

Just after the colonists era, Daddah has changed the school equilibrium between the two communities by using government partisan reforms and other discriminatory decrees. The Beydane regimes that have followed him will then complete the process of domination of the black community of Mauritania.

b) Schools in Northern Mauritania

Simultaneously as the government was forcing the black population to adopt Arabic as an official language instead of French, the government was building hundreds of schools in the North and Center of Mauritania in Beydane majority areas. Take a look at this table and notice the exponential growth of schools in the North of Mauritania compared to the slow growth of schools in the South.

Distribution of Schools

Evolution of students in both communities: What a huge difference!

The education rate that should soon reach 40% according to the Minister of National education will be rerouted to reinforce Arabic schools (where in actual facts only Beydane students are going to). And this is with the knowledge that 80% of the children who have already access to school are Beydanes.

c) Processes and effects of the forced usage of Arabic in 1959: First step of discrimination

In 1959, we assist to the first educational reform that intends to introduce the study of Arabic in elementary and high school. It becomes then an option for every student in Mauritania to study the language of their choice while he or she is in elementary or high school. The application of this new reform will for the first time destroy the equality in schools of black and Beydane students. The education equal opportunity that existed between a black and a Beydane child towards French language study can no longer be applied. The black child gets his first contact with Arabic at school while the Beydane child grows up with it at home and this parameter will play a crucial role in determining their respective grades.

This is a violation to the constitutional principle of citizens’ equal opportunity. Voluntarily, the government is going to definitively use the educational system to fully serve the interests of the Beydane community causing inequality between Mauritanian citizens. The reforms will undoubtedly turn the country into a divided country with pure and clear racist and discriminatory educational and governmental system.

In 1967, a second educational reform was introduced to push forward the study of Arabic. This new reform will make mandatory the study of Arabic in all schools and institutions of the country and proclaim Arabic an official language as well. This means that it becomes mandatory for every student to study Arabic. The government has ordered Arabic schools to remain Arabic and the French schools to become bilingual schools, teaching both French and Arabic. This reform will increase the Arabic study hours also in all schools while cutting off French study hours.

The following was the set up through the whole country:

Examinations in Arabic were obligatory to pass all grades, certifications or diplomas even if the student never went to an Arabic school.

At this level also, the discrimination rule is applied to reduce the success chances for black students while increasing the chance to succeed for Beydane. The black student would need to deal with two foreign languages at school at his early age while the Beydane student will have to study only his mother tongue. Many constraints and barriers have being made to stop black kids, however many of them are truly making extraordinary accomplishments.

The objective of this new reform of 1967 compared with the one of 1958 was simply to reinforce the inequality between black and Beydane children by using the Arabic discriminatory filter.

In addition to those facts, we have seen a lot worse:

In 1971, the President of the country seen as the principal initiator of institutionalizing racism and discrimination, leading the PPM (Mauritanian People’s Party), the unique party of the country, said: "The strategic usage of Arabic is a long term objective... After the establishment of a bilingualism which is only a simple transition, the rehabilitation of the language and Arabic cultures will be the new beginning of our national values".

To confirm his disdain towards the Negro-Mauritanian component of the nation, Ould Daddah will introduce a third reform in 1973. He will order a tougher usage of the Arabic to complete the process of elimination of black students in the educational system, which he has started years ago.

The government then will enforce the following rules:

It becomes mandatory for elementary students to study only Arabic in the 1st and 2nd grades. The opportunity to learn French has been denied to future bilingual students in order to constraint them to be focused on Arabic only.

The time frame for French courses will be reduced to half in all schools

The new introduction of two Arabic examination tests with high coefficient at elementary and high school.

In certain schools, many fundamental courses like geography, history, and philosophy were switched from French to Arabic even if it the teaching language of those schools were French.

This educational reform of 1973 had the objective to insure that the Arabic is used as a cement language for all and to show a final disrespect towards the Negro-Mauritanian community, its culture and its national languages. In doing so, the Beydane government thought of completing the assimilation process of the black community and furthermore their complete domination. But these wrong doings of the Beydane regime had, instead of forcing a black domination, provoked a conscious awakening from all black intellectuals and students.

2°/ - The discriminatory elimination by the examinations

Exam session of 1979

From these statistics, we can read that the reform of 1973 is guarantying an average failure of 18% of Black students.

Thanks to the Black Students Movements and other Negro-Mauritanian Movements who have courageously conjugated their efforts to persuade the black community to stand up against the racial projections of the Beydane government in one hand, and on the other to clear the voluntary maintained confusion by the government between the religion of Islam and the Arabic language.

The military government will then face black hostilities for years before they introduce the new reforms of 1979-1980 to correct few of these discriminatory rules and regulations against blacks.

Henceforth, the Negro-Mauritanian students have a choice to make when going to school. They will choose to go to a French or Arabic school based on their own will. The dream of Mokhtar Ould Daddah, a forced Arabic assimilation of the black population, has fatally collapsed. After all, the government will try to maintain few things:

The first year of elementary school will always be taught entirely in Arabic;

The Arabic will be taught in bilingual schools for 5 hours a week;

This first point will then shorten black kids’ years of study in elementary school. They would study 5 years in French out of 6 while Beydane children have a 6-year program in Arabic.

In 1979, during the Cultural Commission Convention, the Current President Ould Taya will articulate a speech that is contrary to his thinking to fool the population. He would say: “Every Mauritanian who is able to draw an objective thinking, who is concerned about our liberty and independence must understand the inequality brought by the forced usage of Arabic.”

This speech unfortunately will not change anything about the current political orientation of the country.

In 1980, the government will again try to reintroduce the advancement of the usage of the Arabic language with the help of Hasni Ould Didi, as he was the National Minister of education.

In October 1985, the new educational reform that was planned by the government will be timidly introduced. The government knew that the needed academic and administrative skills are not available at this time for Mauritania to jump into a complete and exclusive usage of Arabic, but that will not stop them.

The military government, in connivance with the cited above Minister of the Education, will wait for the fixed maturity date to the National Institute of Languages to designate a national Commission of Reforms which should be set up at the very beginning of its creation to simultaneously introduce a new reform. From there, the only probability for Negro-Mauritanians to live in tranquility in justice and equity is the generalized and equal usage of the national languages at school and in public life. The racist government officials understood well this new parameter. Faithful to their systematic assimilation strategy, they will stifle the National Institute of Languages that is now dying slowly.

What the Military Committee of National Salvation (CMSN), the Government and the Minister of Education have done to apply the famous reforms of October 1979?

The educational reforms of October 1979, the creation of the Institute of National Languages and the creation of the Reform commission are of course a product of the Negro-Mauritanian community resistance but they also serve the Beydane government to distract black fighters and to cheat their vigilance.

3°/ - Few aspects of the famous Hasni O/ Didi’s strategy:

At all the decision levels, the Minister of national education will arrange himself to hire only people that campaign for the forced and complete usage of Arabic:

This segregation will affect all the following positions:

- Administration, Organization and Methods Director,

- Basic Education Director (elementary school board),

- Secondary Education Director (High school Board),

- Higher Education Director (college and universities),

- Technical Education Director (technical training schools),

- National Education Human Resources Director

- University Director,

- Planning Director,

- National Pedagogic Institute Director

For most of these positions, a black man never gets hired. They are controlled by Beydane at all times.

B) In regions of higher black concentration, Ould Didi will hire administrators speaking Arabic and school directors that do not speak French even knowing that the schools or regions they will be administering are French teaching schools. Therefore the region of Gorgol, Guidimakha and the district of Nouakchott will be affected by this new method. The method is to progressively incite black students to choose the studying of Arabic instead of French.

This order will go through all the chain of command from the Regional Director to class teachers and school directors, which are carefully picked within the Beydane community to accomplish the mission.

For the government, any necessary means to make black students choose Arabic should be deployed or any barrier should be raised to prevent them from studying French. Through these new methods listed above, the government will re-actualize the rejected reforms of 1980.

Let us study the case of Nouakchott (Elementary school statistics)

From academic years 1982-1983 to 1984-1985. Study was based on the number of schools in Nouakchott city only.

N.B.: Considering 390 schools and training centers, the Arabic is used in 306 among them while only 84 use French as teaching language. On 30 schools, French would be used in only 8, reducing then the opportunity for black students (who in the majority speak French) to go to the school of their choice.

C) Two strategies to force Blacks to use the Arabic

-In Nouakchott, the government with the help of Arabic school directors applied the forced usage of Arabic. At first, the Arabic partisan directors would admit few black children into the first year of elementary school. In the second grade, as black children should be passed to the second grade but in French, the directors would oppose the argument that the number of black children does not meet the minimum requirement for a class because not exceeding 25 students. Instead that minimum requirement has never been applied to Arabic classes. Few parents will get discouraged and accept to send their children to a second grade of Arabic at the same school while others will still continue to resist. The latest group of parents will have then to transfer their kids to a French school that may be miles away from their residence. This is the reason why black kids from the 5th or the 6th district of Nouakchott would walk every day to Ilot K for a school, Ksar black kids would then go to Nouakchott downtown schools, the black of the 1st district would as well be relocated to Ksar.

Because of the high risks these kids are facing on their way to school, the lack of transportation, many parents would simply change their minds and keep their kids in the nearest Arabic school. Many others would still be determined to fight against the Arabic forced assimilation but they would be constrained to send their kids to attend French school in Southern Mauritania. These are the desperate solutions black parents would find to refuse an assimilation of their kids and to educate their children the way they want.

-The second strategy was applied to Nouakchott and Southern Mauritania as well. It consisted of shortening the resources in French schools. In most cases, the School officials would tell parents: “we do not have French teachers but we can definitely find an Arabic teacher.” This was added to the rapidly growing forced usage of Arabic in the south. Just guess what is next!

4) The imposition of Arabic: an evident racial discrimination

Through the below table, we will demonstrate that the forced usage of Arabic as a national language is a means of discrimination and has permitted the Beydane classes to take control over the country.

ELEMENTARY TEACHING (AUGUST 1983)

Let us take a closer look at the educational structure of the country:

The division of studying languages in the elementary school

Total of schools by region

1. For the 124 Arabic classes, in the region of Brakna for example, 50 of them are built in black cities; and for the 279 Arabic classes of the Trarza region, 80 are build in black cities;

2. The government black officials working in Northern Mauritania have no opportunity to see their children go to school. The only alternative they would have is to accept Arabic schools instead of French or to see themselves separated from their families because they would need their kids back to Southern Mauritania to attend French schools.

a) High School Teaching and examination for High School Diploma (1983 - 84)

This particular study was based on the final results of examination in all high schools of the country.