2023-12-05 13:50:00
The courtyard of the family compound is full of life this Sunday morning. The children are busy eating breakfast while the women tackle the laundry. Others are already preparing lunch, letting out promising scents.
Around twenty members of this extended family live together here, between the mazes of the narrow, sandy streets of Thiaroye-sur-Mer, a town in the suburbs of Dakar, in Senegal. Among them, Saliou*, 12 years old on December 24, is already on the beach, only a few meters away. He comes to play football, swim or watch the canoes.
The town of Thiaroye-sur-Mer, in the suburbs of Dakar, has become an important departure point for the Canary Islands. This summer, around twenty residents took this route. / SYLVAIN CHERKAOUI for La Croix
Saliou belongs to the Lébou people, fishermen. Due to the scarcity of fishing resources, Thiaroye is an important place of departure: canoes clandestinely transport candidates for emigration to the Canary Islands, gateway to the European Union (EU). This summer, around twenty local residents took this route. Just a fragment of the departures: between January 1 and October 1 of this year, 15,205 migrants reached Spain by this route. In the anonymous flow of candidates for exile, Saliou saw neighbors, friends, an uncle, but especially his mother, Kiné*, leave last September.
A crossing kept secret
When he accompanied her to take her taxi for what he thought was one of her usual trips to Mauritania for his fabric business, the child was far from imagining that in reality Kiné was about to embark from Kayar (64 km north of Dakar) in a canoe bound for the Canaries.
But he understands, when a week into the crossing and three days later, she announces by message her arrival in Spain. “ My daughter left to help her family » explains her grandmother Fatou*, now responsible for Saliou and her two little sisters aged 9 and 6. Overwhelmed by anger, the child then sends angry messages to his mother. “ You cheat on me ! You had to bring me. You need to find me a visa for Spain », he reproaches him.
Last September, Kiné, Saliou’s mother embarked from Kayar, north of Dakar, in a canoe bound for the Canaries. She promised her son that he would come and join her next year. / SYLVAIN CHERKAOUI for La Croix
Little by little, his resentment gives way to envy. He too would like to be able to have fun on the swing that he saw in one of the latest videos sent by Kiné. “ She tells me that there you buy nothing, that they give you everything “, he says. Staying with an uncle who emigrated to Spain for several years, Kiné promised her son that he would come and join her next year. “ She will pay me the ticket to come », assures Saliou, his eyes shining with joy.
Obsession
Other positive feedback accentuates Saliou’s impatience. Three of his classmates left this summer. “ They tell me about Spain, about the mountains. They only tell me beautiful things about life thereand tell me to come », he reports seduced.
In the Canaries, the authorities record an average of around a hundred arrivals of young people every day who declare themselves to be minors. These unaccompanied minors (UMAs) come from Senegal, but also from Mali, Niger and Guinea. The consequences of Covid and then the war in Ukraine, the political instability in the region, the blocked future prospects, are pushing more and more young people to leave. Many are mandated by their families, particularly their mothers, to provide for their loved ones. Saliou already sees himself in Spain, sending money to his little sisters to bring them over.
Saliou’s departure plan turns into an obsession. “ He talks about it every day », underlines her cousin Anta*. “ He spent his time watching his mother’s videos, sending her messages. He also watched a lot of football videos », she informs. So much so that his uncle confiscated his phone two weeks ago, worried about his school results.
Saliou would like to become a professional footballer, like his great-uncle in Senegal, whose photo is proudly displayed in one of the rooms of the family compound. / SYLVAIN CHERKAOUI for La Croix
Saliou is already thinking about what he will put in his bag. “ Friends tell me to take warm clothes and food “. He also plans to help the fishermen he meets on the road, to collect some money. In this perilous journey, the child will not be alone: his uncle with whom he shares his mother’s old room will accompany him. For this 21-year-old fisherman, this will be his fifth attempt to reach Europe.
Leave despite the risks
« Videos of migrants in Spain encourage departures by giving a false image. It excites everyone but it doesn’t show the difficult sides! », annoys Anta, an older cousin of Saliou. She tried to alert her little cousin to the dangers awaiting her, having attempted the adventure twice. Without success.
« I began to explain the difficulties to him, to tell him about the crossing. I stopped because he doesn’t want to hear anything “, says the 26-year-old girl. If he appears full of naivety, a prerogative of his young age, the child with the slender figure is not unaware of the risks. “ Neighbors in the neighborhood died in wrecks this summer », he emphasizes, losing for a moment his childish innocence. This year, 641 migrants are dead or missing at sea on this route alone, according to the World Organization for Immigration (IOM). “ If I can, I would like to try the plane first “, he confesses.
Saliou is determined to join his mother in Spain where he dreams of following a football career. He hopes to be able to leave, by plane or failing that by canoe, next summer. / SYLVAIN CHERKAOUI for La Croix
In the family home, migration is discussed between adults, not to raise awareness among the youngest. “ Everyone wants to leave », assures Anta. Recently, she discovered that her 16-year-old brother also wanted to migrate. Not for Europe but to the United States, via Nicaragua. This Central American country has recently become the new transit route for West African migrants heading for the American dream. And this, despite the risks and the cost being higher than those of the Spanish route.
* First names have been changed.
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