The demonstrations and riots that shook Senegal in early March were not only concentrated in Dakar. They had broken out after the case of Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the opposition party the Senegalese patriots for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef), who is accused of rape and death threats. Other regions have been mobilized to “defend democracy”, such as Saint-Louis, in the north of the country, a city particularly affected by youth unemployment, which is also the starting point for irregular emigration.
The popular district of Pikine is still devastated by the deaths of dozens of young illegal immigration candidates who wanted to reach Europe in October last year. Papis Lam, a 35-year-old teacher, is now the only one with a fixed salary who supports his entire family. “I lost two brothers at sea. They wanted to look for work. We live the worst, says Papis Lam. In a family, we only have one person who is a civil servant. Everyone else manages, with difficulties for food and rent. “
Ibrahima is a geography student at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis. At the age of 21, he took part in several demonstrations for the first time after the arrest of his opponent Ousmane Sonko in early March. He says he carried a sense of injustice: “Originally it was just support for Sonko, but after the demonstrations degenerated, because it surpassed Sonko’s person. It was a kind of frustration with what the current regime is doing. You study for four years and after that you struggle to find a job ”.
Lack of employment for young people, lack of industrial structure and infrastructure. this is the observation of Diarra Sow, a member of the Pastef de Saint-Louis office. In line with the national movement for the defense of democracy, M2D, it demands that local elections be held in 2021 in the hope of changing at City Hall. “There are enormous efforts compared to the various problems that young people suffer from. . These are socio-economic problems, unemployment, employability or health. So it is our duty to be able to take these different positions to help our population, says Diarra Sow.
In Saint-Louis, the mainstay of fishing is fishing and tourism. Two sectors in difficulty due to the lack of fish and the coronavirus pandemic with the closure of hotels and restaurants, explains Papa Ibrahima Faye, City Councilor and member of the Presidential Party, APR Alliance for the Republic. “There is tension, anger, bad housing among young people with activities in the informal world. It is up to our young people to find resilience through education in other professions, because we cannot say to ourselves that it is necessarily fishing that should guide us. There must be diversification, says the City Council.
If the town hall does not always have the budget to meet these challenges, advocate with the state for infrastructure development, assures Papa Ibrahima Faye.
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