While working as a inmigration lawyer, I heard hundreds of stories of people forced to risk their lives at sea. These stories encouraged me to travel back to Senegal to understand and discover first-hand the reasons why thousands of young people are forced to flee illegally.
The number of people from sub-Saharan Africa arriving each day on the coasts of the European continent has increased considerably over the last decade. One of the main causes (in added to the poor education system and labor precariousness) are the existing bilateral fishing agreements between Senegal and the European Union. These agreements, abusive and full of loopholes, are responsible for the fact that European vessels have infested Senegalese waters, plundering and plundering the African country's fishing resources.
The direct consequence, with no fish to catch, is that thousands of young people have been forced to use their boats and migrate to European countries becoming street sellers while facing a society that sees them as invaders.
The direct consequence, with no fish to catch, is that thousands of young people have been forced to use their boats and migrate to European countries becoming street sellers while facing a society that sees them as invaders.
During my days in Senegal, I traveled to Saint Louis, Dakar and Casamance. In these places, I was lucky enough to talk to local fishermen, who told me, from their personal experience, the ongoing situation of the Senegalese population.
The first stop was Saint Louis, the cultural capital of the country and a reference place for fishing. Although chaotic, Saint Louis is a colorful and cheerful city and on its beaches you find thousands of multi-colored boats stranded on the sand waiting for their turn to go fishing.
The first stop was Saint Louis, the cultural capital of the country and a reference place for fishing. Although chaotic, Saint Louis is a colorful and cheerful city and on its beaches you find thousands of multi-colored boats stranded on the sand waiting for their turn to go fishing.
One afternoon I decided to go for a walk along the beach. After several kilometers, I saw a crowd of people on the shore. From a distance it seemed that many were women wearing their colorful costumes. When I arrived, I realized they were people waiting for the fishermen canoes to arrive at the beach with the fish.
There, among groups of people, seagulls and boxes of fish, I chatted for hours with a group of young fishermen working on the beach who they explained what was going on amidst all the chaos.
The young fishermen go out fishing from around 5am until 5pm. Once they have caught enough fish, they approach the beach with the canoe. Dozens of people and seagulls are waiting impatiently along the beach. On the one hand, there are the porters, who run to the boat and put the fish in plastic boxes which they carry on their heads and bring to the market for sale. For each box they carry they earn 400 fcs ( 60 cents).On the other side you can see the women, they are in charge of cleaning the fish, both on the beach and at the market. For each fish they clean they earn about 200fcs (30cnts). The fish is taken to the market, which is located just behind the beach, where you can find the trucks that take the goods to other parts of Senegal. At the market there is a frantic pace and a very strong smell. The beach is littered with garbage and animals eating the leftover fish.
The young fishermen go out fishing from around 5am until 5pm. Once they have caught enough fish, they approach the beach with the canoe. Dozens of people and seagulls are waiting impatiently along the beach. On the one hand, there are the porters, who run to the boat and put the fish in plastic boxes which they carry on their heads and bring to the market for sale. For each box they carry they earn 400 fcs ( 60 cents).On the other side you can see the women, they are in charge of cleaning the fish, both on the beach and at the market. For each fish they clean they earn about 200fcs (30cnts). The fish is taken to the market, which is located just behind the beach, where you can find the trucks that take the goods to other parts of Senegal. At the market there is a frantic pace and a very strong smell. The beach is littered with garbage and animals eating the leftover fish.
The young people explained that there is still some fish, but much, much less than before. "Our president has sold much of our maritime territory to European multinationals that fish in our waters. You can see the trawlers from here, from the shore."
Senegal allows European boats to fish tuna and hake beyond the 6 nautical miles reserved for traditional fishing. (source) In addition, they use the trawl net method, which devastates the entire seabed and destroys the ecosystem.
Senegal allows European boats to fish tuna and hake beyond the 6 nautical miles reserved for traditional fishing. (source) In addition, they use the trawl net method, which devastates the entire seabed and destroys the ecosystem.
The lack of food is the reason behind why people who used to fish decide to travel to Spain "clandestinely" (since it is almost impossible to obtain a visa to enter Spain legally).The boats leave from that same beach and each person must pay about 400,000 fcs (610euros). This represents about 2 years of work if you are a fisherman. In each canoe you can fit around 50 people and it takes about 6 days to arrive to the Canary Islands.
Normally, fishermen are the ones who embark more easily on the trip to the Canary Islands. In addition, many times, the people who organize these trips ask them to be the captains in exchange for free travel on the boat.
While we were chatting, a young fisherman arrived. He was overjoyed as he had caught one of the big fish of the day. I took a souvenir photo of him and he asked me to send it to him via wattsap. Months later he texted me, he had jumped on a boat and managed to get to Tenerife, Spain. We kept in touch for a couple of months. He was in the Red Cross shelter and after a while he was relocated to the peninsula, to Valencia.
The last time I spoke with him he had moved in with a friend of his father and told me that he was desperate to find a job. However, as he did not have legal documents, he could not find any place that would hire him.
In order to get legal documents in Spain, you must wait at least 2 or 3 years to apply for regularization. There is no other way except marriage with a national, student visa or international protection as a refugee (which can take up to 10 years and only if you meet very specific requirements).
In order to get legal documents in Spain, you must wait at least 2 or 3 years to apply for regularization. There is no other way except marriage with a national, student visa or international protection as a refugee (which can take up to 10 years and only if you meet very specific requirements).
The next day, I went for another walk along the beach. This time I found something very different: one of the fishermen's wooden boats stranded on the shore and completely destroyed. According to a man walking in the area, the boat left the beach of Saint Louis 3 days before, heading for the Canary Islands. However, after getting lost in Senegalese waters, it was dragged back to the city beach. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. About 100 people were on board, and when they reached the beach, they hid so as not to be identified.
In the wreckage of the boat, children from the neighborhood were playing, dressed as wrestlers and pretending to be sailing, jumping on the pieces of wood.
In the wreckage of the boat, children from the neighborhood were playing, dressed as wrestlers and pretending to be sailing, jumping on the pieces of wood.
After visiting Saint Louis, I continued my trip to Casamance. There, in Abene, I met a friend. His cousin had traveled to Spain years before due to lack of opportunities in his country. He managed to enter by jumping over the big wall built in the south of Spain and now works in Bilbao(north of Spain) to support the whole family.
"From the day you start the journey, the whole town is thinking about you and praying for you. The hard thing for the families who stay behind is not knowing if your brother is ok or what could have happened. Almost every family has a member in Europe, otherwise, because of the situation of our country, it is difficult to move on. We have a very rich country, but others steal it away from us. We are very big families and we all collaborate. When you arrive in Spain, your family breathes easy, but once there, you have to work hard. That's what you went there for, not to sit around and do nothing."
For people who are forced to migrate to Europe, the legal route is not an option since obtaining a visa and traveling by plane in a safe manner is nearly impossible. The requirements are extensive, especially the economic ones, and they are also very limited and granted in dribs and drabs. Most visas are randomly denied without any motivation. Therefore, the option left for them is to pay for a boat, the price is around 600 euros per person.
"Another alternative, if you have a Senegalese passport, is to fly to Morocco. If you have money, you wait in the forest and cross directly through Ceuta (south of Spain) by jumping the fence or by an inflatable boat that takes you to Spain. If not, you work there for months to be able to earn money and pay for a boat." . Finally, another option is to go to Libya by public transport to cross through Italy. Nowadays, this option is not used as much because Libya is a very dangerous country where human rights violations and especially the torture of migrants are constant.
Senegal is currently undergoing a period of economic, political and social instability.
President Macky Sal, or rather, the dictator, postponed the elections last February in order to stay in power and continue to suffocate the Senegalese people. The population, tired of being sabotaged by its leader, who gives all its wealth and natural resources to European countries (fish, gas, iron, oil) took to the streets to demand a political and social change. Young people, above all, are protesting for a decent future. They do not want to leave their country and do not want to travel to Europe to live under questionable conditions. However, there is no choice as even university students and educated people are having their visas denied and are forced to risk their lives. Because of this, illegal detentions and deaths of innocent people have increased in recent months.
