Finegold, Charlotte and Bower, Erica (2025) “Waiting for god”: Flood displacement and planned relocation of fisherfolk in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Human Rights Watch (HRW). ISBN 979-8-88708-247-9
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
On the side of the busy highway that leads out of the city of Saint-Louis, in northwestern Senegal, is a site known as Khar Yalla. Its name means “waiting for God” in Wolof. Around 1,000 people have been living at the site, since 2016. They come from tightly knit, historic fishing communities on the Langue de Barbarie peninsula, located five kilometers from Khar Yalla, which is one of the most exposed places in Africa to sea level rise and other impacts of the climate crisis. A decade ago, the families lived in houses on the beach, within walking distance of their closest friends and relatives. Most men spent their days fishing, while most women cleaned, smoked, and sold the fish they brought back. But in 2015 and 2016, coastal floods destroyed their homes, making them internally displaced peoples (IDPs). Municipal authorities temporarily housed the displaced families in tents in the Langue de Barbarie, then moved them to Khar Yalla into houses that had been constructed for an earlier, failed planned relocation project that was meant to protect other families threatened by flooding. The families displaced by the 2015 and 2016 floods agreed to be moved to Khar Yalla, hoping that the site would offer temporary protection until they could rebuild on the Langue de Barbarie or be relocated by the government to new, permanent homes. But as documented in this report—based on interviews with 101 people, including IDPs living in Khar Yalla, other members of their communities from the Langue de Barbarie, government officials, academics, civil society members, and other experts—Senegalese authorities still have not facilitated a durable solution for the IDPs through rights respecting planned relocation or meaningfully consulted them about their needs and hopes for the future. Instead, for almost a decade, the Senegalese government has left the IDPs in a state of precarity denoted by Khar Yalla’s name, and in conditions that violate their economic, social, and cultural rights, including their rights to an adequate standard of living, adequate housing, education, health, and to take part in cultural life.
| Item Type: | Books |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Saint-Louis, Senegal, Fisherfolk, Fishing Communities, Climate Change, Culture, Livelihoods, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Sea Level Rise, Floods |
| Subjects: | Disasters and Climate Change |
| Depositing User: | Kokila ICSF Krish |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2025 10:37 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Sep 2025 10:37 |
| URI: | http://icsfarchives.net/id/eprint/22471 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
