Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAKAR1588
2006-07-05 18:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dakar
Cable title:  

SENEGAL'S BOAT PEOPLE: MORE ORGANIZED AND HEADING

Tags:  PHUM SMIG SOCI ECON PREL KCRM CV SP SG 
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VZCZCXRO9617
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #1588/01 1861806
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051806Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5633
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0114
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0016
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001588 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, DRL/PHD, G/TIP AND AF/RSA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2011
TAGS: PHUM SMIG SOCI ECON PREL KCRM CV SP SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL'S BOAT PEOPLE: MORE ORGANIZED AND HEADING
TO AMERICA?

REF: DAKAR 01516 (NOTAL)

Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001588

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, DRL/PHD, G/TIP AND AF/RSA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2011
TAGS: PHUM SMIG SOCI ECON PREL KCRM CV SP SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL'S BOAT PEOPLE: MORE ORGANIZED AND HEADING
TO AMERICA?

REF: DAKAR 01516 (NOTAL)

Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (U) The saga of Senegal's "boat people" continues, with
reports of involvement by organized crime. With Europe
grappling with the problem and tightening borders, Senegalese
are talking about boats now being built to carry migrants to
the United States. END SUMMARY.

ORGANIZED CRIME
--------------

2. (C) The head of RADDHO, a prominent local human rights
organization, told us the immigration phenomenon started with
one fishing boat which got lost and ended up on the Canary
Islands. The discovery that fishing boats could be used to
get to Europe, he said, sparked the first wave of attempts to
migrate there illegally. Those haphazard attempts have
evolved into what Amnesty International refers to as all-out
trafficking. The local Amnesty office said trafficking in
persons (TIP) now generates one-third as much as the income
earned through drug trafficking. Amnesty, other NGOs, and
the media have reported on a tight network of individuals in
place to recruit passengers, build and equip boats, and pilot
them.


3. (C) At a recent meeting in Dakar, the UN Office against
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that 80 percent of illegal
migration, including that emanating from Senegal, is
organized. Although the GOS insists migration from Senegal
is NOT organized, UNODC found an international dimension to
the organized migration. Boats carrying illegal migrants now
make en-route stops to refuel, re-supply, and allow migrants
to work temporarily in underground markets to make enough
money to continue the passage to the Canaries. UNODC says
Cape Verde has a growing number of such persons on its
territory.


4. (C) UNODC also described large ships traveling around the
African coast and picking up would-be migrants along the way.

In addition, there is the more recent trend of European
fishing boats -- ironically, the same boats Senegalese accuse
of over-fishing -- sitting at some distance from the
coastline and taking on migrants brought out to them in
"pirogues" (Senegalese fishing boats). The weekly "Le
Temoin" reported many of these European fishing boats are, in
fact, Spanish. Officials in the Canaries report new arrivals
in extraordinarily good condition, underscoring the
possibility that European vessels may be involved.


5. (C) UNODC pointed out that West African organized crime
is very powerful but consists of shallow, shifting
hierarchies. A group may organize one trip, then disperse
indefinitely. It also mentioned the possibility that there
is some corruption at very high levels, permitting
migrant-carrying boats to come and go. On June 27, Spanish
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos publicly said Madrid
has demanded that sub-Saharan countries dismantle "the mafia
and networks violating the law."

SENEGAL'S HALF-HEARTED RESPONSE
--------------

6. (C) Senegalese, however, are starting to hold out illegal
migration as a threat. One village chief in an isolated,
inland area of Senegal told us, "If you want to stop our
young people from jumping into boats, you'd better give us
more aid." Having discussed the matter with GOS officials,
UNODC feels Senegal confuses the issues of trafficking in
persons and illegal immigration. One member of UNODC
referred to use of the 2005 TIP law to prosecute illegal
migrants and those organizing the trips as a prime example.
UNODC and representatives of several European embassies
argued the TIP law is insufficient to combat illegal
immigration. They also reported Senegal's new National
Emigration Office, touted by the Government as one way to
address the problem, has not actually been set up. The GOS
told UNODC it still needs to be put in place and equipped.


7. (C) The head of the local Amnesty office agreed the 2005
TIP law will not be effective, because smuggling has become
so lucrative. He also argued the GOS would not really try to
stop migration, since to do so would create a "bomb" ready to
explode at any moment. Between 19 and 24 June, Senegal
permitted the repatriation of 189 more of its citizens from
the Canaries. The GOS agreed to the repatriations only under

DAKAR 00001588 002 OF 002


condition of extreme discretion by the Spanish. Senegal also
agreed to allow the Spanish to patrol its waters. This
followed Spain's extension to Senegal of a line of credit
amounting to USD 26 million.

WHERE TO NOW?
--------------

8. (C) Meanwhile, people continue to make the dangerous
journey. The head of RADDHO told us, last week, that he went
to a Dakar restaurant where a waiter had just called to say
he arrived in the Canaries safely after his illicit voyage.
One newspaper reported that 292 new arrivals landed in the
Islands between June 26-28. Amnesty International said one
migrant told them 160 would-be passengers fought for space
two and one-half hours before leaving Senegal, because their
boat held only 80 people. The boat sprang a leak and had to
return, but this migrant said he would try again. Local and
French media say two "large" vessels are being built
especially to take illegal migrants from Senegal to the U.S.
Local daily "Walfadjri" called one the "Titanic" and said
construction has been going on for a month under the watchful
eye of the police. Meanwhile, a similar boat being built in
a separate location is apparently on the verge of departure.
RADDHO confirmed those reports.

COMMENT
--------------

9. (C) If it is true that migrants are shifting their focus
to America, it would be one indication that this phenomenon
has definitively entered the realm of organized crime. END
COMMENT.
JACOBS