Dreams shattered as illegal migrants repatriated

Mody Dia, a 31-year-old Senegalese computer technician, saved his money, survived a treacherous six-day voyage across the ocean in an open boat and began to see his dreams come true as he stepped onto the soil of Spain’s Canary Islands. The European mainland and employment were only a short flight away. But when Dia boarded a plane last week his dreams fell apart. He landed back in Senegal as one of 99 illegal migrants repatriated by his own government from the Canary Islands. “They have betrayed their youth,” said Dia of Senegal’s officials. “We took canoes, risked our lives, they demanded our identities and then we were returned! By doing that they have created unemployed people, bandits and fools.” The planned repatriation of hundreds more illegal Senegalese migrants from the Canary Islands was suspended earlier this month after some initial returnees claimed mistreatment, saying they were lied to and handcuffed. More and more African men, women and children are boarding open wooden boats on the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania in the hopes of reaching Spain’s Canary Islands. More than 9,000 illegal migrants landed on the islands in the first five months of the year, which is more than during 2005. “I only want to work in Spain for a couple of years, make a living and then come back and invest here,” Dia said. “Even if it is difficult it can’t be worse than here. Here there is nothing.” Despite years of high economic growth and low inflation, according to the International Monetary Fund, Senegal continues to struggle with high urban unemployment, even for university graduates. Dia’s journey began on his birthday, April 22. After saving about US $1,600 for the journey, Dia went to the northern seas-side city of Saint Louis. He waited for a week and then boarded a pirogue - or canoe - before dawn. He said at least 70 other migrants also boarded canoes. “There was everything in those pirogues … fishermen and people with degrees but there wasn’t much to eat, just a few sacks of rice,” Dia said. “We were frightened. At one point I thought that it was the end with the waves several metres high. There were some who couldn’t endure the journey. It is hard. I don’t like to talk about it very much.” But the fear then turned to elation as the Canary Islands came into view. “From far away you could see the lights and we knew that we had made it,” Dia said. He and the other migrants were taken to a holding area. “We lived in good conditions, better than here,” he said. “They gave us three meals a day, we drank filtered water and each of us had a bed. It was good. I even began to learn Spanish by reading the newspapers.” Then a delegation of officials from Senegal arrived and, Dia said, assured the migrants that they were not there to repatriate them. Spain has no formal repatriation agreement with Senegal. As a result, Spanish authorities in the past were forced to release illegal Senegalese immigrants, and others with no identity papers at all, on the Spanish mainland. So when Dia and the other migrants were brought to the airport, 22 days after they had arrived in Tenerife, they believed that they were being flown to the Spanish capital Madrid, or Malaga in the south. Instead, the group of 99, including Dia, landed where their journey began – in Senegal. Angry about what he feels is a betrayal by his own country, Dia and other migrants and their mothers demonstrated on Wednesday in front of the presidency to demand an audience with President Abdoulaye Wade and to introduce a letter explaining their reasons for leaving Senegal. A key ministerial a conference on illegal immigration is due to be held in the Moroccan city of Rabat in July. A new plan drafted by European and African countries combines measures to crack down against trafficking with proposals on keeping would-be migrants home. Senegal has proposed a plan granting plots of land to would-be migrants for farming. “They talk to us about that [farming] now, but we don’t want it,” said Dia. “Where have you ever seen computer technicians or fishermen cultivating the land?” Among measures agreed in the international plan are tighter border controls, better police cooperation and state-of-the-art tracking equipment for African states, as well as an observatory body to monitor migration. Other measures are aimed at promoting economic development to keep African youngsters at home. But Dia says that if he cannot return to Europe legally he will board a pirogue again, despite the risks. “As they say, better to die far away than to remain poor here,” he said. “Leave or die.” JV/CS/SS