Since the fall, the Canary Islands archipelago has experienced a sharp acceleration in the arrivals of sub-Saharan migrants who are candidates for immigration to Europe. Over 2,000 landed in just two days at the start of November. Among them, Senegalese minors. Their presence questions the usual logic of Senegalese emigration and questions this desire to leave at all costs at the risk of one’s life.
Kinship relations, an ambiguous issue
Today, as our recent study shows, the departure of the youngest, sometimes very young, is becoming a reality. Does this encourage a renegotiation of the social position of new migrants within the kinship?
In the Senegalese family, within the same generation, authority first belongs to the elders. The current emigration, often undertaken by the youngest, very early in school dropout (due to the overload of primary school classes and the economic precariousness of families), questions these principles of the kinship system and the network of families that are within him. related.
The decision to emigrate became individualized. It is no longer thought of in a process of transmission within the lineage; it replaces the birthright’s personal initiative, stimulated by the responsibilities that each considers to have vis-à-vis their parents and the family economy.
This transformation of migratory logic deprives the elder of his authority; he is gradually excluded from the conduct of family activities, as the youngest redistributes the fruits of his emigration. An eldest member of a family from Thiès explains: “Even if you are the eldest, you no longer exist in the family, if your little brother is abroad. ”
It is therefore precisely in emigration that the source and meaning of new relationships between individuals take root, no longer according to the genealogical position they occupy in the family, but according to their choice to emigrate or not. The place in the kinship is no longer determined by the rules of the birthright, but depends on the redistribution of resources linked to emigration.
The family becomes a ground of tension between elders and younger siblings, extended to kinship if the children of the same father have different mothers. In this case, the links with the mother’s clan are privileged, as a young man from Mbour points out:
“For example, you are in a polygamous family, the children of one of the two women did better than the others; they take good care of their mother while the other’s children do not have the means to do that; then, the latter will seek all the means to be able to succeed and provide for their mother’s needs, including risking their lives in the canoes or going through Libya to go to Europe. Because they want to save their mother’s honor in the house and in the neighborhood. ”
Today, it seems undeniable that the family and the emigrant have an ambivalent relationship: the family encourages departure, supports the migratory journey from a distance and can provide support in difficult times. In return, it expects a lot from the emigrant who, because of his often precarious economic and administrative situation in the host country, seeks for his part to protect himself from multiple solicitations.
Nevertheless, his simple arrival in Europe gives him, in fact, a status which, depending on his genealogical position in the siblings, can redefine the moral and social order of kinship. Paradoxically, therefore, emigration can both strengthen the social position of the family and threaten the cohesion between its members.
Neighborhood relations and the “social weight”
Neighborhood is another social construct that includes a notion of community, associated with a sense of belonging and local friendships. Thus, the neighborhood is an important part of Senegalese sociability which influences the decision to emigrate:
“80% of young people leave, that’s the social weight. In the neighborhood, they have a friend, and one day they see their friend go to Italy or Spain, and upon his return they see that he marries a beautiful girl, he has a house, he has a stable life… That, it is an explanation, it is a cause that pushes people to go abroad. ”
Within these complex relationships between the inhabitants of the same neighborhood, the tontines run by women occupy a central place. According to rules set when they were set up, members take turns visiting each other at varying intervals, often monthly. If the tontine gives the opportunity to meet to discuss and exchange, it is based on the pooling of a certain sum of money which will return to the hostess. At each reception, each woman is adorned with her finery; it is the occasion to display the clothes and the jewels acquired thanks to the money of the emigrated son or husband. The great events of life – weddings, baptisms, funerals – are also privileged moments to show the “success” of the son or the husband.
The relationship between neighbors reflects like a mirror; we compare and evaluate each other.
These evolutions within siblings, kinship and neighborhood show that emigration does not eliminate inequalities but transforms them, because it transforms family and social hierarchies.
In this context, current emigration takes on its full significance in its relationship to social immobility and to kinship and neighborhood relations. It replaces this impasse and these tensions with economic ease and social recognition. It is these “values” that provide emigration with the necessary meaning to make it legitimate to risk one’s life or to let one’s child risk one’s own.
This new emigration transcends the usual dynamics of Senegalese emigration which is based either on a transnational kinship system (migration from the Senegal River region) or on a diasporic organization (migration from the Murid community). It is more urban than rural, transgenerational, and includes minors. In addition, the poorest social classes also participate. This change is linked to the mobilization of new resources: money from the mother’s tontine and informal work carried out along the migratory journey. Paradoxically, the precarious conditions of emigration offer new opportunities to a population which previously could not meet the resources required for departure and travel.
Aspiration for a fairer society
The current emigration is above all the expression of social anger which cannot be expressed in political action and social movements. This anger, linked at the same time to the emotions and to the social function of the individual, must be understood as an aspiration for a fairer society which knows not only how to organize the redistribution of goods between individuals but also to promote and guarantee an environment where individuals find the means to fulfill themselves and to be recognized in their concrete, professional and family life.
Today, it is therefore less the inequalities between the South and the North than the inequality of opportunities in the country of origin that explains emigration. This imposes itself as the alternative to immobility and social injustice.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
