Yearbook 2010
Senegal is a country in Africa. See Digopaul. On April 4, Senegal celebrated 50 years of
independence from France. On the same day, the old colonial
power formally surrendered its military bases in the
country. France would take home 900 of its 1,200 soldiers.
The remaining 300 would be left to train military in the
region and to work on a security system for African military
forces.
The day before Independence Day, the criticized giant
statue built by North Korea was unveiled in monumental
social-realist style. The "Monument of the African
Renaissance" is higher than the Statue of Liberty in New
York and cost about US $ 27 million to erect. It stands on a
hill outside Senegal's capital Dakar and erected on the
initiative of President Abdoulaye Wade to symbolize the
liberation from colonial heritage and the hope of a rebirth
of African culture. The statue has been criticized by both
Christians and Muslims for its symbolism and has also been
condemned for its cost. A number of African leaders were
present at the inauguration, while thousands of opposition
supporters demonstrated and demanded the departure of the
president. At first, a demonstration ban had been announced,
but it was lifted at the last moment.
More than 50,000 children in Senegal's Quranic schools
live under slave-like conditions. The teachers force the
children to beg on the streets, beat them and do not give
them the education they are entitled to. This was stated in
a report released by the US human rights organization Human
Rights Watch (HRW) in April. Many Senegalese children attend
traditional Quran schools. Some do it in addition to the
regular school, others only attend the Koran school. In poor
families, it is common for parents to put the children in
boarding schools, which are often far from home, because
they want to give the children religious education and a
better life than at home. It has been known for a long time
that the Taliban begging, which the Koran school students
are called, has long been known. In 2005, Senegal's
parliament passed a law that made it illegal to force other
people to beg for economic gain. In the HRW report, it was
pointed out that the law is not complied with and that some
of the Koran schools exploit the lack of government control.
Some schools receive over US $ 100,000 a year on begging.
They use Islam teaching as a cover for exploiting children
for financial gain, according to the report. The reporters
demanded that the Senegalese government ensure that the law
is followed. In September, the first judgments came against
Koran teachers who forced children to beg. Seven teachers
received conditional prison sentences. They would only be
imprisoned if, within the next six months, they forced
children to beg again, but the judges were still considered
to be symbolically important. They use Islam teaching as a
cover for exploiting children for financial gain, according
to the report. The reporters demanded that the Senegalese
government ensure that the law is followed. In September,
the first judgments came against Koran teachers who forced
children to beg. Seven teachers received conditional prison
sentences. They would only be imprisoned if, within the next
six months, they forced children to beg again, but the
judges were still considered to be symbolically important.
They use Islam teaching as a cover for exploiting children
for financial gain, according to the report. The reporters
demanded that the Senegalese government ensure that the law
is followed. In September, the first judgments came against
Koran teachers who forced children to beg. Seven teachers
received conditional prison sentences. They would only be
imprisoned if, within the next six months, they forced
children to beg again, but the judges were still considered
to be symbolically important.
Senegal and ten other countries east are planning to
create a "green wall" of trees across the African continent
to stop desertification in the area. The spread of the
Sahara causes the agricultural land to shrink and also
contributes to global warming.
Leaders from the 11 countries met in Chad in mid-June to
discuss the plans. The project means that the countries will
create a 15 kilometer wide forest belt from Dakar on the
Atlantic coast to Djibouti on the Red Sea. The distance is
just over 710 km long. The financial organization Global
Environment Facility has promised to invest around US $ 130
million and is also trying to find more donors.
President Abdoulaye Wade appointed his son Karim Wade as
energy minister on October 4. The son had previously handled
the portfolios of international cooperation, urban and
regional planning and infrastructure. The act fueled earlier
speculation from opposition and political analysts that the
84-year-old president, who will be leaving office in 2012,
is preparing to take his son to take over the presidential
post. The President has said that he wants to stand in the
2012 elections for a third term despite the fact that the
Constitution does not allow it.
Former Minister of Energy, Samuel Améte Sarr, was
dismissed after several weeks of protests against repeated
power cuts. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned at
the end of September that the insufficient electricity
supply threatened the country's ongoing economic recovery.
Sarr was reassigned to the post of Deputy Head of
Department and Financial Advisor to the President.
In mid-October, Senegal received 160 students from the
earthquake-stricken Haiti to complete their studies in
Senegal. President Wade had promised this help shortly after
the serious earthquake in January 2010 that claimed nearly a
quarter of a million lives and made more than a million
Haitians homeless. Both Haiti and Senegal are former French
colonies. A government spokesman said President Wade saw the
Haitian students as African sons and daughters because their
ancestors had been taken to the Caribbean as slaves.
In mid-December, a Senegalese doctor was sentenced to a
fine and conditional imprisonment for a year for publicly
stating, two weeks earlier, that Abdoulaye Wade is too ill
to continue as president. The doctor was convicted of
spreading fake news that discredited the president and
risked disrupting the public order in the country.
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