Historicising ‘Irregular’ Migration from Senegal to Europe

Abstract

Contemporary discourses on migration from West Africa to Europe tend to frame migrants as victims of syndicated trafficking cartels that truck in human desperation. As part of this narrative, migrants are increasingly portrayed as 'modern-day slaves' in need of humanitarian protection. In both media and policy circles, African migrants are commonly referred to as desperate travellers who fall prey to exploitative 'slave traders' on their clandestine journeys to Europe. And yet, such framings do not adequately account for the ways in which migration from West Africa to Europe has a long and profound history, and thus does not sufficiently correspond to histories of enslavement. Nor do such framings appreciate how contemporary movements within and outside West Africa are informed by interrelated political genealogies that tie Europe to Africa in mutually dialectic ways. Focusing on the case of Senegal, this article aims to disrupt the 'migrant as slave' narrative by looking back at the histories of regional and international mobility that continue to shape population movements out of Senegal today.

Out of West Africa: Human Smuggling as a Social Enterprise

“…Far from being the neutral result of simple misinformation or overly dramatic journalistic fervor, discourses on the criminality of human smugglers produce a particular view of "irregular" migration and legitimize increasingly militarized border enforcement strategies. Ironically, such strategies and interventions only make migration more difficult and thus the need for facilitators more acute (Maher 2017). the case of Senegal is exemplary.…”

Frontex: A Literature Review

“…In one example, previous routes to Gibraltar were closed and migrants moved south to cross towards the Canary Islands (Vives, 2017). Over time, Frontex’ involvement also effectively closed this route, inducing migrants in West Africa to redirect their route across the Sahara towards the Mediterranean (Maher, 2017). Likewise, when a newly built fence between the Greek and Turkish land border was completed and guarded with Frontex’ support, migrants shifted to using boats to cross the sea between both countries (Triandafyllidou and Dimitriadi, 2014).…”

A Crouching Village: Ebola and the Empty Gestures of Quarantine in Monrovia

“…Rural ancestral villages, multiple urban residences, outlying farms, and labor encampments all have valences of home in different times and contexts. So, too, do spaces outside the national borders of the state, as the contemporary African experience is increasingly a transnational one (D'Alisera ; Hepner ; Maher ; Piot ; Smith ; MacGaffey and Bazenguissa‐Ganga ).…”