Communication Afrique Destinations

TRIBUNE/AFRICA: All that, to become that?

Venance Konan

We all saw, a few days ago, those unbearable images of thousands of Africans trying to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northern Morocco. There was a terrible stampede in which several of them were killed. The African Union and a good part of African public opinion are moved by this tragedy and demand that an investigation be carried out to locate the responsibilities.

Several times I have visited Morocco and seen in certain districts of Casablanca or in the region of Tangier, in the north of the country, hundreds of young Africans, solidly built, suffering from no apparent handicap, in the process of begging at the crossroads to have enough to survive. In the vicinity of Ceuta, the other Spanish enclave in Morocco, I have seen thousands of people who have been camping there for years sometimes, in appalling conditions. The hope of all these people is to be able to enter Europe one day. Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish enclaves which are targeted by would-be emigrants, are protected by high fences topped with barbed wire, where armed guards accompanied by dogs patrol constantly, but none of this dissuades them. Regularly, they try to storm these fortresses and each time we deplore deaths. We also regularly see images of these dead migrants drowned in the Mediterranean, or wandering on the sea at the mercy of the whims of European rulers. And these people enslaved or treated worse than animals in Libya.

What do those who manage to cross do in Europe? I saw in Italy hundreds of young Africans who had come after crossing the desert and the sea begging in the streets or on the terraces of restaurants and cafes. Some live in what could be called refugee camps where they are taken care of for a certain time by the authorities and associations. Just for a while. If you go to Paris, to the Goutte d'Or district, around the Château d'eau and Barbès-Rochechouart metro stations, you will see a large number of them, selling anything and everything, from drugs to braised banana and corn, and many women end up in prostitution. Here is what Wikipedia says about this district: “Insecurity is important, with street robberies, drug trafficking and drug addiction. The district suffers in particular from its traffic in crack and contraband cigarettes, in particular at the Barbès-Rochechouart metro station. Another of the problems of the district is the prostitution of very young women of African origin, held by pimps to whom they must reimburse the price of their passage to France or who promise reprisals on their families who have remained in Africa if they do not obey. not.“ Those who manage to get jobs as security guards or nannies or maids are lucky. Every time I see this I say to myself: “take all these risks, to come and become this? What meaning do these people give to their live.“? But it's hard to put yourself in other people's shoes when you don't live their realities. However, it is difficult not to feel immense pity or sometimes great anger at what often appears to be a mess. Because at the end of the day, they end up, for a large number of them, realizing that they lived perfectly better at home despite everything.

A dozen years ago I went to the north of Mali to do a report on the candidates for emigration who were turned back and stranded in the small border town of Tin-Zaouaten. I was in the company of two members of the Malian Association of Emigrants and a young Tanzanian priest. We had not been able to reach the town of Tin-Zaouaten because the Malian soldiers had dissuaded us from it because of the Tuareg rebels who had at that time begun to point their noses in the region, and as a result we are remained in Kidal. There were hundreds of young Africans sent back by Algeria or European countries who survived thanks to associations and doing odd jobs or begging. None of those we met considered giving up on their dream of going to Europe. A young Togolese tells us coldly that he would rather die than return to his country. None of them knew what they were planning to do in Europe, but they were all convinced that it would necessarily be better than at home. All that to become what?

By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga

Add new comment

The comment language code.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
Communication Afrique Destinations