Dustiness, dirtiness, and barefoot children, most of them Talibè, holding empty tomato cans or plastic bowls in their hands populate the streets of Dakar and in many other cities in Senegal. A 2007 UNICEF study on child begging in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, found that more than 90% of the children are Taliban. However, official statistics are still missing and children between 8 and 15 years of age are involved.
Talibé and Marabutto in Senegal
The term Talibè in the Wolof language means ‘disciple’ and refers to children attending the Daara, the Koranic schools run by the Marabuttos, who teach the precepts of Islam on the basis of mnemonic learning of the Koran. For centuries, the Daaras in Senegal have ensured that Islamic education has spread to all segments of the West African country’s population. Here, however, physical punishment is often carried out, which for many West African Muslim countries is considered an important part of the educational process.
Between the Talib and his Marabout there is a relationship of devotion and strict obedience as the Marabout offers his guidance and protection to his disciples who express their trust through financial support or tithing. In Senegal, the issue of the Taliban is not seen in a homogeneous way, some promoting its spread while others close it down. In addition, parents who decide to send their children to a Daara often do so through de facto fostering, because of their own economic difficulties, and to offer a better future to the child by building a relationship with the Muslim brotherhood to which the Marabout belongs and consequently to prepare the child for a career as a Marabout. It should be noted, however, that the Taliban’s education remains essentially linked to West African values in terms of children’s education.
Begging, punishment and life in the Daara
Originally, begging by the Taliban consisted of asking for food to supplement the Daara’s supplies when the Marabout’s fields crops could not support the needs. This practice evolved as the Daara developped in an urban environment and required a change for the income. Thus, the practice of almsgiving resulted in children giving money instead of food. The problem of Marabout abuse of Taliban children in Senagal is not subject to state regulation and as a result some schools abuse the relationship between disciple and teacher. Often, what should be an institution of education can take on negative facets. Some Marabouts exploit Taliban for labour or forced begging on the streets, instead of teaching Koran to them. In some cases, this exploitation exposes children to disease, injury, death, physical and sexual abuse inside or outside the Daara.
A Human Rights Watch survey of 175 Taliban children in Senegal estimated an average of just under 8 hours a day, every day, of begging for between 373 CFA (0.56 €) and 445 CFA (0.67 $) on holidays. This is a difficult amount to achieve as just under 30% of the Senegalese population lives on less than 593 CFA (0.90 €) a day and 55% live on less than 949 CFA (1.44 €). In addition to money, food quotas such as sugar and rice are often demanded. If this quota is not met, there is a risk of physical abuse, and for example, many children show scars and bruises, due to the application of electric cables or sticks.
However, is the older Talib, who becomes the assistant to the Marabout, to be responsible for punishing younger Talibels who do not pay back their daily quota or who return late. In cases where the Marabout does not supervise the children, the older Talib has absolute power over them and he can rob them or abuse them physically or sexually. In general, children risk beatings, sexual abuse, chaining, imprisonment and numerous forms of neglect and danger in at least 8 of the 14 administrative regions of Senegal. In addition, there are risks associated with the trafficking and migration of Taliban children in Africa, including the illicit transportation of Taliban groups across regions and national borders.
The Senegalese Taliban often lack basic necessities and accommodation, having to endure longer hours of begging or sleeping on the streets. Indeed, conditions in urban Daara are often characterised by malnutrition, lack of clothing, exposure to disease and poor hygiene. Often hundreds of Taliban children live in extremely dirty and squalid conditions in unfinished buildings with no walls, floors or windows. Here rubbish, sewage and flies clog the ground and the air, and children often sleep crammed into dozens in an open-air room, most of them without mosquito nets and therefore at risk of infection or disease. Moreover, the situation is exacerbated when the children become ill, they are forced to beg to pay for their treatment.
The many rights violated
From a legal point of view, there are many issues related to human rights and children’s rights. Hence, the situation of Taliban children in Senegal calls into question several international conventions. When we talk about the Taliban, we face with cases of slavery, forced labour and human trafficking.
Some NGOs argue that when a Marabout acquires custody of a Talibé to force him to beg, this practice is a “practice akin to slavery” as defined by the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery (1956). Furthermore, the Forced and Compulsory Labour Convention (1930) describes forced labour as “work which is performed by any person under threat of any penalty and for which the person in question has not offered himself voluntarily”. In addition, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has deemed the practice of exploitation of the Taliban in Senegal to fall within the scope of the Convention concerning the Prohibition of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999), equating forced begging with slavery. In turn, Human Rights Watch, considering ILO’s point of view, has argued that the Marabouts, when they transport the Taliban with the primary intention of obtaining work from them, are involved in child trafficking. In this regard, reference is made to Article 3(c) of the Protocol on Trafficking in Human Beings (2003) which states that “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered trafficking in persons”.
In addition, numerous provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are violated as forced begging threatens the physical and mental safety of Taliban children; education is neglected due to begging hours, and children suffer corporal punishment, sexual abuse and denial of leisure time by the Marabout.
Initiatives undertaken by the institutions
To resolve the situation in 1992, UNICEF launched a five-year awareness-raising operation on Taliban children in Senegal and tried to work alongside the Marabouts. However, due to the shortcomings of the UNICEF model, since 1997 this work has been taken over by specialised NGOs such as Plateforme pour la promotion et la protection de Droits Humains, Human Rights Watch and Maison de la gare.
Alongside international and local NGOs, government officials have repeatedly committed to addressing the problem including through two phases of a Dakar-focused programme to take children off the streets, in June 2016 and March 2018. However, the efforts have had limited impact and have not reached thousands of children begging in other regions of the country. As a result, government programmes should be extended beyond Dakar and make funds available to Daara that prioritise education and respect children’s rights as part of a national child protection strategy.
Nevertheless, it should be remembered that many Daara are free from abuse problems and that success in one of these schools can lead to a strong knowledge of the Koran and a prestigious position as Imam or Marabutto. Many parents, often far from home, are unaware of the risks their children may incur by entering unprincipled Daara. This is due to the fact that the mistreatment of Talibè children in Seanegal is often a big taboo in society. In this framework, awareness-raising campaigns are slowly generating some concerns.
