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Situation of migrants from
Cape Verde in Senegal
Maria Fernanda RAMOS
d'ALMEIDA
Cape Verdeans migrants live in Senegal since
1800, as one of the elders of the community remembers: “My
grandfather took part in the construction of the Faiherbe bridge,
built in 1865”. Migrants also participated in the construction
of many of the most important infrastructures of the history of
Dakar. That is to say, migrants have contributed in a very
significant way to the current image of Senegal. PAALAE Even today, third generation migrants take part as their great grandparents did, in the economic life of this country that has become their second fatherland. The Cape Verdean law allows for all citizens distributed throughout the world to have double citizenship, the one from Cape Verde and the one from the receiving country. This can be understood looking at the fact that two thirds of the population from Cape Verde live outside the country. Without pretending to present a scientific study of the community, I will try to read its reality through my active participation in its different activities. Taking into account the relative harmony that we can see in the day to day life, what can we say about the socio economic and cultural integration? We can distinguish three groups, relatively homogenous, in relation to the economic and financial spheres: - A group of cadres with tertiary education, predominantly men (doctors, bankers, IT specialists, businessmen, entrepreneurs, etc.) who live in good to correct economic conditions, are relatively well integrated in the business world of Senegal. And to a considerable extent, they take part in the socio-cultural life of the community from Cape Verde; - A group of middle income (hair dressers, salespersons, painters, graphic designers, workers in small and medium enterprises, small businessmen…) This group is formed by people of mid age (between 20 and 45) with a good internal interaction (national celebrations, religious celebrations, dances, Cape Verdean feasts, cultural events, etc.). Nevertheless, looking at the relations among older generations, the intra-community net has weakened. In this group, that represents two fifth of the migrants, the relationship with the Senegalese community is not homogeneous. It manifests itself in various forms, from integration to indifference. - A group of vulnerable persons, without work, some times without training, living under very difficult economic conditions, at the margins of the Cape Verdean community. This group is mainly formed by people of advanced age and some younger, many times without family, some with children living in developed countries. Sometimes these persons, near to death, are being assisted by sociable Senegalese families. These people are not taken into account by any state mechanism, neither Senegalese nor Cape Verdean and they live in silence, a real social drama. They are approximately one fifth of the community. There are five Cape Verdean associations, and they all work socially and culturally with the community. Nevertheless there is no real coordination among these organisations; they do not work according to well defined programmes, rather in a fragmented way following, for example, the festivity calendar of the community We can notice in general that the campaigns and dynamics linked to the national programmes in Senegal do not generate interest among the Cape Verdean community and this, for me, raises a fundamental question. As an example, I ask myself whether the anti HIV/AIDS campaign that is being implemented in Oulof, focusing on certain organisations, economic interest groups and community based organisations, the ones responsible for their implementation, how do these campaigns connect to the Cape Verdean community that live in almost closed circles? Neither the institutions, nor the organisations or the government leaders have given me an answer to this question. They did not seem interested in this question either, that I believe it is not only interesting but relevant, as it encompasses all the problematic of integration/inclusion. My opinion is that at the centre of this problematic we must place a dynamic for adult education that takes into account all members of the population implied. These are some elements for reflection that we might need during the debates. Thank you very much, Fernanda
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