For 17 years, Numidia was ruled by an authoritarian regime, consisting of the Berber ethnic/religious group, that controlled every aspect of Numidian life, under the strict rules of its religious leaders. It had a powerful and disciplined military and police force to enforce these rules and keep opposition and resistance to a minimum.
Numidians of all ethnicities and religions were forced to live according to the Berbers’ religious laws and minority groups were frequently targeted by military and police. Non-religious Berbers were also targeted, particularly academics and artists. Women were forced to live under extremely restrictive rules, including prohibitions on secondary-level education and employment outside of domestic work. Homosexuality was strictly prohibited and members of the LGBTIQ+ community were routinely arrested. Enforced disappearances were common.
Although dangerous and difficult, pro-democracy groups began to form in the early 2000s. Members were from all minority groups and included some who identified as Berbers but were opposed to the regime. Over the next decade, these groups grew; many obtained arms and began to organise themselves into a loose coalition of armed resistance and opposition to the Berbers regime. As they grew in numbers, they engaged in sporadic fighting with the Numidian military across all territories.
During this time, only small, occasional groups of Numidians fleeing persecution (for the reasons listed above) were able to reach Parthia, due to the military’s control of the Eastern Province bordering Parthia.
In 2012, this loose coalition of armed groups/opposition, coordinated in a widespread, organised attack on the Berber regime. They called themselves the Numidian Peoples Brigade, or “the Brigade”. The attack caught the Berbers by surprise and armed Numidian citizens joined the rebels in large numbers, swelling the ranks of the Brigade.
A brutal and bloody civil war ensued, resulting in thousands of deaths and a large influx of refugees fleeing to Parthia. UNHCR established a Branch Office in the capital soon after the first refugees began to arrive in Parthia.
After two years of fighting the Berbers with increasing success, the Brigade were able to take over the capital of Numidia, Cirta, forcing the Berbers to tactically withdraw to the northern parts of the Eastern Province where they still maintained control. Due in part to the rich natural resources they controlled in this territory, they still maintained some leverage against the Brigade. However, the Berbers also recognised that their only option to end the war without eventually losing all power, was to agree to a peace deal.
For six months, the peace agreement held, and elections took place across the country. Members of the Berber regime formed a political group called the Berbers Political Alliance (the “Berbers Alliance”). Unsurprisingly, counties in the Eastern Province all elected members of the Berbers Alliance. Two other counties in Numidia also elected Berbers, giving them a slight majority in the national assembly.
Shocking everyone, the Interim President did not win the Presidential election. Instead, a less-known deputy in the Brigade gained a slim majority of the votes. This surprise outcome prompted cries of corruption and fraud from Numidians and the international community. Irregularities and intimidation had been widely reported throughout the country. Nevertheless, there were no official or legal attempts to challenge the outcome.
For two years, this new democratic experiment in Numidia struggled, made more vulnerable by an economy and population ravaged by civil war. The President showed himself to be weak, corrupt, and unable/unwilling to take control of the government or manage the national assembly.
Everyone knew the real power lay with the Minister of Defence & Civil Defence, a new ministry created to allow him to control the armed forces and police. A powerful Berber and leader in the former regime, he acted to undermine democratic reform by reducing law and order efforts and allowing violence and lawlessness to begin to escalate throughout Numidia.
Nonetheless, for two years there was relative peace – no major conflict and no refugees entering Parthia. In fact, some Numidian refugees returned, while others remained in Parthia, where they settled throughout the country.