Introduction
Senegal hosted some 35,900 refugees and asylum seekers, more than 32,000 of whom were Mauritanians who, between 1989 and 1991, fled ethnic persecution. Thousands of Mauritanians lived in two main settlements, N’dioum and Dodel, and most others lived in some 250 villages and small informal settlements in a 360-mile strip along the Senegal River valley, bordering Mauritania.
2008 Summary
There were no reports of refoulement, arbitrary detention, or other danger to refugees or asylum seekers during 2008.
During 2008, 255 asylum seekers filed requests and the Government recognized 3 as refugees.
In 2008, 138 refugees (121 Mauritanians, 16 Gambians, and 1 Sierra Leonean) resettled to other countries. Eleven refugees received international travel documents.
In January, UNHCR launched a repatriation operation for Mauritanian refugees under a tripartite agreement among the governments of Senegal and Mauritania and UNHCR signed in November 2007. By year’s end, 6,200 Mauritanians repatriated and UNHCR planned for 15,000 to return during 2009.
Law and Policy
Refoulement/Physical Protection
Senegal is party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention), to its 1967 Protocol without reservation, and to the 1969 Convention governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. The 2001 Constitution establishes that international agreements are of higher legal authority than local laws. A 1968 law, with a 1978 implementing decree and 1989 revisions, established the CNE, composed of representatives of various ministries, to grant or revoke refugee status. UNHCR is an observer. It also prohibits forcible return and provides that refugees should enjoy all the rights of the 1951 Convention.
In rare cases, the CNE rejects individuals that UNHCR deems in need of protection and recognizes under its own mandate.
Asylum seekers apply to the CNE, which gives them a questionnaire to fill out and provides them with a receipt stating they have applied for refugee status. Within two weeks, officials from the CNE and the Ministry of Interior conducts interviews with the applicants. If the CNE approves refugee status, it issues certificates to applicants attesting to their recognition, but the President of the country also has to sign a decree approving each case, which sometimes takes one to two years. Rejected applicants can appeal in 15 days if they have new facts to present, but to the same CNE members. Failing that, their only recourse was to the President. Asylum seekers who fail on appeal can be arrested, held for three months, and deported.
The Refugee Law states that applicants can present their cases with counsel in attendance, but in practice, this rarely occurs. The CNE does not collaborate in any formal way with Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme or West African Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Network, which provide legal aid to asylum seekers and refugees.
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Detention/Access to Courts
Authorities can hold persons in administrative detention for up to three months before deportation. No court reviews refugees’ or asylum seekers’ detention. Generally, authorities inform UNHCR of arrests and, when necessary, UNHCR intervenes to assure their release.
The 1978 and 1987 decrees oblige the Government to issue registered refugees free certificates of their status and identity cards valid for ten years, renewable. At the beginning of each year, refugees have to present their cards to the authorities in their area of residence. The CNE, however, has not issued any refugee identity cards since 2000, instead providing attestations upon recommendation for refugee status and the formal decree signed by the President when it is complete. As a result, most Mauritanian refugees do not have identity cards, retaining only application receipts, some dating back to 1989. Officials do not always accept those receipts as valid documents. Local officials sometimes reject refugee documents because of the lack of a photo and unfamiliarity with them.
Those who have annually renewable refugee cards have to travel to Dakar and pay fees to renew them. UNHCR has been working with the interior ministry to supply materials to restart issuing refugee identity cards.
The CNE give asylum applicants receipts to give them the right to move freely and to remain in country while deciding on their asylum cases. These attestations documents are valid for anywhere from two weeks to three months and renewable.
Refugees and asylum seekers with attestation documents are able to claim their rights in court. The Constitution extends to all the principle of equality before the law and a prohibition of arbitrary detention.
Freedom of Movement and Residence
Refugees are able to choose their place of residence and move relatively freely as long as they have documentation of their status.
To obtain international travel documents, refugees have to apply through the interior ministry with a letter of recommendation from UNHCR, confirm their refugee status, state their reasons for travel, and show a return plane ticket.
The Constitution reserves to citizens its rights to move about freely, to choose their place of residence, and to leave the country, but the 1978 and 1989 decrees provide that the interior minister issues international travel documents to refugees if they apply to the prefect of their department of residence.
Right to Earn a Livelihood
Although the Refugee Law grants refugees the same right to work as nationals, refugees without the refugee cards last issued in 1999 cannot not work legally. Asylum seekers cannot work legally.
The Constitution guarantees to all the right to work, including the right to form labor unions and strike. The Refugee Law treats refugees seeking to practice professions as foreigners from countries with which Senegal has the most favorable treaty. A 1971 law conditions foreigners’ practice of professions upon authorities authorizing their establishment and certifying that they satisfy all legal requirements.
Refugees without refugee cards also cannot get drivers licenses, open bank accounts, or receive postal orders. Many, however, obtain illegal cards.
Refugees can trade and farm pursuant to local arrangements. Although the Constitution reserves to citizens its right to engage in business and to own property, in practice, refugees can own property.
Public Relief and Education
Registered refugees in Dakar receive some aid from the Bureau d’Orientation Social but asylum seekers and those without status do not. Refugees in settlements along the border with Mauritania do not receive aid from the Bureau but UNHCR gives some community aid. The agency also aids refugees in urban areas for six months and, after that, reimburses them for medical fees.
Registered refugees and asylum seekers have the right to the same health services as nationals but those without identity cards do not.
Children of refugees and asylum seekers with birth certificates can attend primary schools along with nationals.
The Constitution reserves to citizens its rights to health but extends to all children the right to education. The Refugee Law grants refugees the same rights as nationals with regard to public assistance and education.
Senegal allows UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations access to aid refugees and asylum seekers. The 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper it prepared for international donors notes refugees’ malnutrition, poverty, and vulnerability. It promises programs to reduce social exclusion and specific arrangements “to allow them to take advantage of wealth-generating opportunities,” including, with donor assistance, “a special fund to support displaced persons and refugees” and lists the establishment of this special fund as a priority action.
Its 2004 and 2005 progress reports, however, mention none of these initiatives, and the Government does not include refugees or asylum seekers in any poverty reduction or development programs.
The 2006 Paper notes that Senegal would establish special programs to benefit particular groups, including refugees and displaced persons. The report also says Senegal would focus on improving its strategies to manage refugee populations by providing assistance to returnees, building the capacities of the CNE, updating asylum law, and taking the “gender approach into account.”
