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2019 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

6. Secessionism in Anjouan, Comoros: Internal Dynamics, External Decisions

verfasst von : Gregor Dobler

Erschienen in: Secessionism in African Politics

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The Comoros, four islands in the Indian Ocean, were a French colony until 1975 when three of the islands gained independence as a joint republic. The fourth island, Mayotte, remained with France and was gradually transformed into a French overseas Département. This secession forms the background of a chaotic history of statehood in independent Comoros and secessionist movements on two of the republic’s islands—Anjouan and Mohéli. This chapter outlines the history of secessionist movements on Anjouan. It emphasizes the role of international actors in the success or failure of secessionist movements and asks why secession from a very weak central state seemed attractive, highlighting the role hopes for state rents and employment played for the secessionist movement.

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Vorheriges Kapitel Western Sahara and Morocco: Complexities of Resistance and Analysis

Nächstes Kapitel Zanzibar in the Tanzania Union

I use the French designations for the four islands, calling them Mayotte, Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli. The Shikomor names are Maore, Ngazidja, Nzwani, and Mwali. My use of the colonial names does not reflect any preference for imperialist designations; I simply adapt myself to English usage, just as I would call my own native country Germany, not Deutschland.

UNDP (Comoros) (2010: 12).

UNDP (Comoros) (2010: 48).

UN GA Res. 1514. It states that “any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity or territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”—Art. 3 of the Charter of the Organisation of African Unity called upon all members “to respect the borders existing on the achievement of national independence.” (Zacher 1979:129) The only other case I am aware of is that of Chagos Archipelago and the three Seychelles islands Aldabra, Farquhar, and Desroches, which Britain excised from Mauritius and Seychelles as British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 to make room for US military bases (see Houbert 1992).

Messmer had already told the Comorian Chambre des Députés in 1972: “Je dois vous prévenir que rien ne saurait être fait s’il s’agissait de modifications profondes, sans un référendum où chaque île serait appelée à décider de son propre avenir.” (Ibrahime 2002: 25).

Wiseberg and Nelson (1977: 12).

Wiseberg and Nelson (1977: 21f).

On February 6, 1976, Benin, Guyana, Lybia, Panama, and Tanzania had drafted the resolution. See S/ 11967 and S/ PV 1888, para. 247. The question has not been explicitly addressed by the General Assembly since 1994 but has each year been adjourned to the next.

Interestingly enough, Denard had fought in Biafra for the secessionist government, and was paid by the French government, trying to destabilize Nigeria (French 1997: 113).

French (1997: 117).

Cornwell (1998: 51). On August 11, Mohéli followed with similar declarations, but the island returned to the Republic in 1998 (Ben Mohadji 2005: 129).

Ougergouz and Tehidrazanarivelo (2006: 269ff). The accuracy of that number was contested on good grounds by the Comorian government, but nobody doubted the support for independence by a majority of Anjouanais.

Ben Mohadjii (2005: 129).

Pahlavi (2001).

Lehtinen (2002: 60). See also http://www.comores-online.com/Comores-infosweb/Debat/Dossier4.htm, accessed March 31, 2012.

Ben Mohadji (2005: 129) and Ougergouz and Tehidrazanarivelo (2006: 269ff).

“South Africa’s OAU mandated role in respect of the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros,” http://www.dfa.gov.za/foreign/Multilateral/profiles/como.htm, accessed March 31, 2012.

Ougergouz and Tehidrazanarivelo (2006: 270).

http://www.comores-online.com/Comores-infosweb/Debat/Accord4.htm, accessed March 31, 2012. “New Comorian Commonwealth” is my translation of “Nouvel Ensemble Comorien.”

Cour National du Droit d’Asile (2009: 90).

For an excellent overview, see Rolf Hofmeier’s annual chronicle in the Africa Yearbook (Hofmeier 2005–2011).

Hofmeier (2006).

Hofmeier (2008).

France later turned down his application for political asylum but refused to extradite him to the Comoros; he found refuge in Benin on the condition that he renounced politics. (Mohamed Bacar en exil au Bénin. Nouvel Observateur, July 20, 2008). The French Cour National de Droit d’Asile turned down Bacar’s asylum application on the grounds that, due to numerous human rights violations, such as torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, extortions, and the use of fire arms against civilians, the Geneva convention was not applicable to him and the French asylum law did not offer him protection. An extradition to the Comoros was excluded since it was possible he would face the death penalty there (Cour National du Droit d’Asile 2009, 90f.).

Hofmeier (2011).

For some of the more sophisticated versions of this argument, see Berman (1998), Chabal and Daloz (1999), and Mamdani (1996).

Walker (2007: 605).

The history of European national states shows that even in countries with a very low degree of socio-cultural homogeneity, a measure of national unity can emerge from a state’s practical relevance. See, for example, Eugen Weber’s classic study on France in the late nineteenth century “Peasants into Frenchmen” (Weber 1976). He clearly shows that administrative unity preceded, and was largely responsible for, national consciousness. Popitz’s theory of power and domination, unfortunately not yet translated into English, can be found in his “Phänomene der Macht” (Popitz 1992).

Voeltzkow (1914). Ylang-ylang was introduced in 1909 from the Philippines (cf. http://www.comores-online.com/epices/ylang.htm, accessed April 10, 2012).

www.anjouangov.com/economy.html (accessed April 10, 2012).

Melo et al. (2000) and Menz and Fleming (1989: 7). Prices for both commodities rose after 1998—by 200% for vanilla, 500% for cloves, and 40% for ylang-ylang (International Monetary Fund 2004a, 14). They have been very volatile since then, losing much of their worth in the 2010s.

World Bank (2004: 6).

World Bank (2004: 22).

Hofmeier (2011).

World Bank (2004: 22). World Bank statistics claim that Grande Comore received 91% of total remittances, compared to 7% for Anjouan. I am rather sceptical toward these figures; they are based on Western Union data, which probably show the venue where the money was collected rather than the place of residence of the recipient.

I use governance in its widest sense: As both the mode of allocation of public goods (be it through state agents or not) and as the normative system underlying it. For a more general discussion, see Förster and Köchlin (2011).

This interpretation of Anjouan’s secession mainly rests on conversations and interviews I had during two months on Grande Comore and Anjouan in March and April 2003. It is consistent, though not identical with existing explanations (cf. Said Omar-Hilali 2000; Baker 2009; Walker 2007).

International Monetary Fund (2004b) (Statistical Appendix): 93.

In its 2010 “Advisory Opinion on Kosovo,” partially revising the old consensus, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that nothing in international law explicitly prohibits secession, if the means used to bring it about were not in themselves in breach of international law. But the Court avoided opinion on the question of whether any regulation in international law authorizes secession. The majority of legal scholars continue to deny any such right. See Christakis (2011) for a discussion of the ICJ Opinion and its implications, and, for example, Brilmayer (1991), Crawford (1998), Kohen (2006), Naldi (1998), and Oraison (2001) on the legal arguments surrounding secessionism.

See Cameron (2018) and Schomerus and de Vries (2018) in this volume.

Baker, B. (2009). Comoros: The search for viability. Civil Wars, 11(3), 215–233.CrossRef

Ben Mohadji, F. (2005). Comoros (Union of the Comoros). In J. Kincaid (Ed.), Handbook of federal countries (2nd ed., pp. 121–134). Ottawa: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Berman, B. (1998). Ethnicity, patronage and the African state: The politics of uncivil nationalism. African Affairs, 97, 305–341.CrossRef

Brilmayer, L. (1991). Secession and self-determination: A territorial interpretation. Yale Journal of International Law, 16, 177–202.

Cameron, G. (2018). Zanzibar in the Tanzania Union. In Secessionism in African politics: Aspiration, grievance, performance, disenchantment, de Vries, Lotje, Pierre Englebert, and Mareike Schomerus. New York: Palgrave, 2018.

Caminade, P. (2003). Comores-Mayotte: Une histoire neocoloniale. Marseille: Agone.

Chabal, P., & Daloz, P. (1999). Africa works: Disorder as political instrument. Oxford: James Currey.

Chouzour, S. (1994). Le pouvoir de l’honneur: Tradition et contestation en Grande Comore. Paris: l’Harmattan.

Christakis, T. (2011). The ICJ advisory opinion on Kosovo: Has international law something to say about secession? The Leiden Journal of International Law, 24, 73–86.CrossRef

Cornwell, R. (1998). Anjouan: A spat in the Indian Ocean. African Security Review, 7(3), 51–61.CrossRef

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Förster, T., & Köchlin, L. (2011). The politics of governance: Power and agency in the formation of political order in Africa. Basel Papers on Political Transformation no 1. Basel: Institute for Social Anthropology.

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Titel: Secessionism in Anjouan, Comoros: Internal Dynamics, External Decisions
verfasst von: Gregor Dobler
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Buch: Secessionism in African Politics
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90205-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-90206-7

Copyright-Jahr: 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90206-7_6

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