We were called to the gendarmerie in Ouahigouya. We had already been there once, to inform them that we were in the area doing research. We had been told to do it, as a safety precaution. And during the first meeting, everything went smoothly, we gave them copies of our passports and our phone numbers and that was it.
Now, though, we were called to another office, where another man sat with a serious face and explained that the person we had spoken to last was not the right one, that we needed to come back because we were foreign researchers and that was his responsibility. He wanted to hear about our projects, when and where we would be going, and then he asked if we had any papers. Quickly we got out the copies of our INERA, Stockholm Resilience Centre and SIDA/MFS certificates full of logos and signatures and stamps. I was happy we followed the advice we got of having tons of official looking papers on us, because we might need to prove without a doubt that we were here on legitimate business one day.
He agreed to let us go eventually, without anything more serious than the instruction to call if we ran into any trouble. I wonder, though, if that was all that it was. I got the feeling that they wanted to keep an eye on us. And what would have happened if we didn’t have all those documents on us? Would he have told us to leave?
I’ve heard many stories of the military and police doing strange and terrible things, but being a white, middle class and Swedish, I’ve never had to experience it myself. Now, it was only a faint, unspoken threat.
Katja Malmborg 