Some 700 Burkinabé Muslim religious leaders, gathered at the end of August for a training seminar in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, denounced “religious and ethnic intolerance” which is spreading in the country facing jihadist violence.
After calls for calm from the military government and those of several political leaders, the Federation of Islamic Associations of Burkina Faso (FAIB) intervened in turn to prevent an outbreak of violence. In particular, the hate calls launched against the Fulani community. Audio recordings have been circulating since early August on social networks, inviting people “indigenous” to massively kill the Fulani. There is even a question of “ethnic cleansing”.
“These are remarks of extreme gravity which are only equaled by the excesses of the radio Mille Collines which led to the Rwandan genocide (in 1994), one of the worst tragedies of humanity and of which we must know learn lessons from”
Statement by the Council of Ministers, August 17, 2022
The Fulani, a minority in Burkina Faso (1.5 million out of 20.5 million inhabitants), are assimilated to armed jihadist groups because some of their members come from this community, as specified to AFP, Drissa Traoré, Burkinabè teacher and political analyst. The latter regrets this amalgamation which can have serious consequences.
This is not the first time that the Fulani community has been stigmatized. In 2019, massacres were committed in northern Burkina against Fulani in retaliation for attacks by jihadists. In a particularly tense context, the risk of a new slippage is never too far. Alpha Barry, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré overthrown by the military putsch in January, warned in a recent column on “the risk of a real civil war“, after the anti-Fulani recordings were broadcast.
Burkina Faso has been facing armed jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group since 2015. The violence left thousands dead and some two million displaced. More than 40% of the territory of Burkina escapes the control of the State.
The country has been ruled since the end of January 2022 by soldiers who took power by force, promising to restore security. A difficult task, to say the least, attacks against civilians and soldiers have multiplied since the coup.