I
gave a public lecture yesterday in Brussels about the situation in Mali. One of
the key issues under discussion was the reconciliation among Malians. A very
difficult issue, I knew, as the events of 2012 and the early part of 2013 in
the Northern Regions had a major negative impact on trust. Each ethnic group
withdrew inside its own identity and became very suspicious of every other ethnicity.
It
is an issue that is not moving fast enough, at a time when many other parts of
the transition process are gaining momentum. And yesterday, during the
discussions that followed my presentation, I came to the conclusion that many
Malians are not really ready to reconcile. They tend to look at the Tuareg and
other nomadic people from the North of Mali with a certain degree of contempt. And
the nomads return the favour and see the black Malians as people that are not
really interested in sharing power.
I
got the impression that the leadership needs to be talked to into a cultural
revolution. They have to change their views. The external partners should help
them to do so. This is a priority task.
No comments:
Post a Comment