Senegal's Haitian Repatriation

これってどういうことなんですか？　詳しい人いたら教えてください！

Senegal Offers Land to Haitians - BBC News

Senegal's president says he will offer free land and "repatriation" to people affected by the earthquake in Haiti.

President Abdoulaye Wade said Haitians were sons and daughters of Africa since Haiti was founded by slaves, including some thought to be from Senegal.

"The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin," said Mr Wade's spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye.

Tuesday's earthquake killed tens of thousands and left many more homeless.

Buildings have been reduced to rubble, the distribution of aid is slow, and people have been flooding out of the devastated capital, Port-au-Prince.

"Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land - even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come," Mr Bemba Ndiaye said.

"If it's just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region."

The spokesman emphasised that if a region was given, it would be in a fertile part of the country rather than in its parched deserts, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Senegal Offers Repatriation - Haiti Earthquake - suite101.com

The January 12, 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. The presidential palace, Ministry of Justice, and UN mission headquarters were destroyed along with much of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Deaths are expected to rise over 200,000, with many more injured. Nearly 300,000 people in Port-au-Prince are considered homeless, one-sixth of the city's population. On January 16, 2010 President Abdoulaye Wade of the West African nation of Senegal offered a unique form of humanitarian aid to Haiti: repatriation for any Haitian who wishes to relocate and emigrate to Senegal.

Abdoulaye Wade Offers Haitians Repatriation

President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal is offering repatriation to any Haitian who emigrates, as reported by BBC News, claiming that all Haitians are descended from slaves and some may have Sengalese roots. His offer comes at a critical time for Haiti, less than one week after the earthquake demolished the capital, destroyed most hospitals, and as water and food shortages threaten to provoke riots and anarchy.

According to President Wade's spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye, "Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land - even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come."

"If it's just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region."

Haiti Earthquake and Homelessness

With more than 300,000 without homes in Port-au-Prince alone, Haiti's 9 million people face an enormous challenge to rebuild, given the loss of government structures, death of political and civil officials, and the humanitarian crisis in providing simple needs such as food, water, and medical care.

Why Senegal?

Senegal is one of the most stable countries in West Africa. Used as an outpost during the Atlantic slave trade from the 16th through the 19th centuries, Senegal is home to Gorée, an island used in the Atlantic Slave Trade and which is currently a UNESCO World Heritage site.

President Wade has expressly connected his offer to Haiti's slave origins, noting in an interview with French radio reported by the Irish Times that "“[The Haitians’ enslaved ancestors] did not choose to go to that island . . . It is our duty to recognise their right to come back to the land of their ancestors . . . Now the problem is to know how, and who will bear the cost.”

Many Haitians have left Haiti for the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti, but the Dominican Republic cannot absorb all Haitian refugees.

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他のアフリカの国々の中には資金や人員を提供する国もあった（Haiti: Africa Lends a Hand - News from Africa）ようで、それはもちろん素晴らしいことではあるのだけれど「そんなことして自分の国は大丈夫なの？」とちょっぴり思ってしまったのも正直なところ。お金の出所も気になるし。

そんな中で、他の国々にいい意味で追従せずに、「自分たちにできること」かつ「必要とされている（と思われる）こと」（かつ「他の国がちょっと躊躇してしまいそうなこと」？）を地震発生後間もないこのタイミングで提案したセネガルは、感動的ですらある英断をしたと思う。

でも、なぜあえて "repatriation" という表現を使ったのか。それが気になる。

ただ単に同胞意識を示すためだったのかもしれない。けど、それだけの理由で、一筋縄ではいかない歴史を持つ奴隷貿易の話を出すのは、果たして賢明と言えるんだろうか。

奴隷貿易は西洋人の一方的な搾取ではなくて、アフリカ人の中で権力や武力のある者自ら、他部族の人などを狩って売っていた、というのはわりと有名な話だと思います。だから、西アフリカの多民族国家における政治の世界では、奴隷貿易の話は今でもとてもsensitiveでなかなか触れられない話題だという事情を聞いたことがあります。

もしそれが（セネガルにおいても）本当だとするなら。

セネガルへの移住は、ハイチの人たちが目下の窮状から逃れるにはとてもいい提案だと思う。けど、ゆくゆくハイチの人々がセネガルにintegrateされるとなった時に、repatriationという文脈から奴隷貿易の問題が出てきてしまったらちょっと厄介なんじゃないか。

ただでさえ、土地や雇用を奪われたといってセネガルの人々がハイチから来た人々に反感を持つことも考えられるのに（しかも "The spokesman emphasised that if a region was given, it would be in a fertile part of the country rather than in its parched deserts." ならなおさら）。

（これは、こないだ行われていたUNICEFの「気候変動と子どもたち」という写真展にて、ブルキナファソで、砂漠化が進む北部から肥沃な南部に移民が増えて、もともと南部にいた人たちが土地や仕事を取られたといって不満を言っていて、比較的政情の安定しているブルキナに紛争の火種が！？みたいな話を聞いたのを思い出してふと考えました。）

ただ、そんなに大規模な移民じゃなかったら問題にはならないのかもしれないけど。

でもやっぱり、問題になるかもしれないリスクをわざわざおかす意図がつかめない。

というか、いかんせんわたしのセネガルなどなどに関する知識が足りなさすぎて、こんな疑問はわいてきたけど実際のところどうなのかよくわかりません。もっと勉強しなくちゃ。。

もし心優しい方がいたら、ぜひこのニュースの意味するところ（？）について教えてください、お願いします！