On this Friday afternoon, Ousmane and Alioune (1), 5 years old, roam the streets of the Ouakam district of Dakar, their bucket on their arm to collect some coins. They are talibés, students entrusted by their parents to a Koranic teacher to study the Koran in a Turn it on (” Koranic school “). “We go out at mealtimes to have something to eat and also to collect money that we have to give to the marabout. Every day, we have to give him 500 francs (76 euro cents),” explains Ousmane.
Passive state complicity
They are thousands, between 5 and 15 years old, to be forced to beg every day. In Dakar alone, they would be 200,000 (2018). Mostly Senegalese, some come from the sub-region, like Alioune, originally from Guinea-Bissau. While in rural areas the talibés helped in the fields, with the rural exodus of the 1980s, many Koranic teachers found themselves without resources, while continuing to take in children.
“So they sent them out to beg to support themselves. For some, this practice has become outright economic exploitation,” details Seydi Gassama, director of Amnesty International, who released a report on December 12 on the protection of talibé children in Senegal pointing out the mistreatment of which many talibés are victims. A very lucrative activity: it would bring in more than 5 billion CFA francs (7 million euros) per year to the marabouts in Dakar. “There is a passive complicity of the State and the Senegalese who believe in offerings to have baraka (“luck”)»underlines Alassane Diagne, coordinator at the Empire of the children, an emergency center of reception of the children in situation of street.
Insalubrity and violence
“The master searches our pockets so that we don’t keep any money. Andif we don’t have the sum, we are struck”, says Ousmane. Corporal punishment is common in Turn it on, for not having brought in the sum requested, for having recited the Koran incorrectly… A former talibé in the religious city of Touba, Amadou (1) was chained to his feet in a courtyard for two months for having run away. He was also regularly beaten with a rope. While Mr. Diagne emphasizes that ill-intentioned Koranic teachers constitute a minority, the living conditions of many talibés are often difficult due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. “We took a shower once a week and there was only one glove for everyone. I had pimples all over my body”remembers Thierno, a former talibé.
The teenager recalls that the meals were bad despite the donations made to the Turn it on. “Many talibés are malnourished and have no access to health care,” sighs Seydi Gassama. Psychological, physical and sexual violence are common. Precarious living conditions and violence that can lead to death. Each time, this revives the debate on this issue, seen as a shame for many Senegalese.
Lack of means and will
Despite national legislation and the ratification of international conventions condemning child trafficking in particular, prosecutions are rare. The trivialization of the violence suffered by the talibés and the pressure exerted by the associations of Koranic teachers lead to a certain impunity. Despite a national child protection strategy adopted in 2013, the insufficient resources allocated make it ineffective.
A bill on the status of Turn it on to regulate their opening but also a modernization project has been submitted to regulate religious education: none has yet been adopted. For Mr. Diagne, the State is responsible for the situation: “It is not a priority for the government. It relies on associations without giving them the means! he warns. Everything must be reformed to provide a framework and save the children. »
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A quarter of talibé children forced to beg
The talibés are children entrusted by their relatives to Koranic schools (Turn it on) for their religious education.
According to a study conducted in 2018 by the NGO Global Solidarity Initiative, the number of talibé children is said to be around 200,000 in Dakar alone, at least 25% of whom practice forced begging.
Since 2016, the Senegalese State has set up several programs that have enabled the removal of nearly 10,000 talibé children from the streets. But these efforts are “insufficient”affirms Amnesty International, which calls on the authorities to keep their commitments and to ” to act “.