How many are there? 400, 500, 800? Associations such as Alarm Phone[1] have reported that in one week, at the end of October, at least 480 would-be migrants died or went missing off the Senegalese coast. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported 140 victims in a single shipwreck off Mbour in late October, a figure disputed by the Senegalese state. The government did not give the number of shipwrecked people and its spokesman, Abdou Latif Coulibaly, guest on the RFM’s Grand Jury programme on Sunday 15 November 2020, indulged in his favourite exercise: arrogance with empty verbiage. And as an expression of this government of national renunciation and of an elite disconnected from Senegalese realities, Mr Coulibaly said that « it is impossible » to assess these tragedies. In his diatribe against the « emotional », he pinned the United Nations Organisation (UNO) accused of having shown « lightness… as is often the case » when pronouncing on this event. Let us hope that Abdou Latif Coulibaly, as government spokesman, will never have to pronounce on a possible problem with Mauritania. With the authorities of this country, our relations are sometimes very complicated and communication must therefore be more controlled. On 24 November 2020, when asked to specify the number of victims of these tragedies, the new Minister of the Interior, Antoine Félix Diome, declared that « the government’s objective is not to count the dead, but to find solutions to the problems faced by the Senegalese ». It is clear that casualness is the hallmark of this government.
« To name things badly is to add unhappiness to the world » Albert Camus
In the face of these tragedies, Senegalese society has shown more empathy than the government and its spokesperson. The leaders of the various religions spoke out in terms that no doubt brought comfort to the grieving families. A group of associations organised a « virtual mourning ». In Dakar, on Saturday 21 November 2020, a hundred people marched in silence in tribute to the victims and called on the authorities and citizens to react. The President of the Republic has not yet spoken on the subject. We are invited to be satisfied with the declarations of his ministers and the communiqués of the Council of Ministers. Personally, since I saw Macky Sall arrive in the flooded town of Keur Massar, in a blue suit, white shirt and moccasins, I have understood: we have lost the President of the Republic! We now have a monarch whose courtiers whisper every day that he has a divine right.
These dramas have also been the occasion for debate on the nature of the events themselves and also on the future of the country and the place of young people in our society. It does not seem to me to be the most accurate description to say that young people who die trying to reach Europe in boats that are not sufficiently adapted to crossing the Atlantic are suicidal. All those who embark on these ventures do so with the hope of reaching what they see as « the land of opportunity ». They take the steps of the majority of Senegalese when they are faced with a situation that is out of the ordinary. Prayer requests to the parents and the religious guide! Visits to the man who speaks to the genies to obtain a protective talisman. These are all steps that are not taken by ‘suicidal’ people. They take enormous risks to force their destinies so that the way they are looked upon changes. It is true that they use the energy of despair in the quest for what they believe to be the path of hope, but to see this as an attitude of self-destruction does not seem to me to be in line with reality. If we want these dramas to stop, let’s start by naming them properly and understanding their significance.
« Dem ngir daffa wara nekk gorr done Goorgoolou/ Leave because dignity requires resourcefulness » Youssou Ndour
Dem dem, dem fan ? /Go away, where to go ?
Dem ndax lan? Baye ako mom/Why leave? This is the father’s property.
Dem nguir xeer bou barri bi/Dem nguir xeer bou barri bi/Dem nguir xeer bou barri bi/Dem nguir xeer bou barri bi/leave because of this stony ground
Dem ndax teen boh neex bi/ To leave because the well that gives such sweet water
Teh rapp rek noom noo siy naan/ Only the geniuses of the night drink from it
Nach bi lakkatouma taw bi barrewoul/The sun no longer burns my skin and it no longer rains
Dem ngir bokk bol menou fee am/ Leaving because there is no more solidarity
Dem ngir daffa wara nekk gorr done Goorgoolou/ Leaving because dignity requires resourcefulness
Since the early 2000s, thousands of young Africans have been trying to reach Europe by various means every year. In addition to the route through the desert, the Maghrebian coasts and the crossing of the Mediterranean, we have the route from the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania to the Canary Islands. This phenomenon, which in Senegal has been called Barça or Barsac (see Barcelona or die), is not unrelated to the crisis in the fisheries sector. Over-exploited fish resources have become scarce. According to researchers, some 15,000 migrant fishermen from the Casamance, the small and the large coast, charter pirogues every year to destinations further and further away. The scarcity of fish stocks forces Senegalese fishermen to extend their fishing areas, sometimes in conflict with other coastal populations. Fishing no longer feeds its man. This phenomenon is the result of the activity of foreign fishing fleets, particularly European, Chinese and Russian, in Senegalese waters. The fishing agreements that allow European trawlers to fish in Senegalese waters, provided that they receive compensatory aid to ensure macroeconomic balance, are not without consequences for the development of local fisheries and marine ecosystems. These agreements have been rightly accused of feeding, through a crowding-out effect, the illegal emigration channels. The proof: the voyages are made on boats whose helmsmen are fishermen converted into smuggler.
« Cynicism is like nicotine, it stains. André Brink
The ethical questions raised by these dramas should not make us lose sight of the political economy of migration to Europe. The people who attempt to migrate under these conditions are not impoverished and deprived migrants, the result of demographic pressure. They are people who can take advantage of the employment opportunities offered by European countries. The explanation for the increased migratory pressure of the last few years has more to do with capitalist globalisation than with simple demographic growth or the negligence of our rulers. Europe, which is in need of manpower, is pretending that this is not the case. It cynically puts in place control mechanisms which, far from drying up migratory flows, make them costly in human lives. The Senegalese state is responsible for the security of its citizens, including when their deliberate actions are involved. The public authorities have a duty to protect Senegalese citizens. In the dramas we have experienced, should we speak of the failure of internal intelligence or of cynicism?
[1] Alarm Phone is an NGO that provides telephone assistance to people in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.
[2] The Guide (Wommat) 1994 Sony Music Entertainment INC
Source: SENEPLUS
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