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Local government officials from southern Senegal have refused to have the border with Guinea-Bissau opened, ‘Sud Quotidien’ daily in Dakar reported on Wednesday.
Populations on the Senegalese side of the border forced the authorities to close it in mid-July after cattle raids on border villages by armed men who then retreated into northern Guinea-Bissau. Suspicion has fallen upon the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), which is fighting for independence for southern Senegal’s Casamance area, but the MFDC has blamed the raids on bandits.
A humanitarian source told IRIN on Thursday that the closure of the border had led to price hikes since much of the country’s imports transits through Senegal. Fuel, for example, is scarce and gas stations in the capital are just about empty, according to the source. Gasolene can be had on the black market, he said, but a litre costs 2500 FCFA (CFA francs) whereas the official price is 455 FCFA. (US $1 is worth about 700 FCFA).
Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau’s government set up on Tuesday a commission headed by Prime Minister Caetano Intchama to monitor and mediate the Casamance conflict, LUSA reported.
Bissau has consistently denied Senegalese accusations that it allows the MFDC to use its territory as a rear base.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions