Involuntary returns to Senegal: of endurance, hope and immobility

Anne-Line Rodriguez, Queen Mary University London

This presentation will explore ethnographically local experiences of recent involuntary returns to Senegal. Over the last few years, the multiplication of deportations and Assisted Voluntary Returns from Europe and North Africa has resulted in a rise in migrant unplanned homecomings in West Africa. This presentation will highlight that involuntary return to Senegal is an inter-subjective process that can be understood in relation to local debates on risk-taking and effort in migration, as well as returnees’ and deportees’ own endurance and hopes. Ultimately, the paper will seek to add to the conceptualisation of agency in the spatiotemporal immobility produced by restrictive migration regimes.

The events are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies