Victory for the Senegalese skirmishers. French President Emmanuel Macron received this Friday, April 14 at the Elysee Palace nine of these former soldiers recruited by the French army and born in the former colonies of Africa living in France and who have decided to return permanently to their country of origin. origin, Senegal, while continuing to receive their minimum old age, thanks to exceptional financial aid from the French State.
To receive their allowance, they were previously obliged to live at least six months of the year in France.
“Today it’s done, it’s official: they will be able to return at the end of the month. Finally,” said Fatou Biramah, a spokeswoman for the Association for the Memory and History of Senegalese Riflemen. “Our dear and tender, our grandpas, our elders, were received by the President of the Republic. Everything was moving. It was a tender moment, it was sweet. The president has paused [compared to the controversies targeting him in France, in particular about the unpopular pension reform, Ed]. He listened to them, and above all he thanked them, ”she said.
The nine men, aged 85 to 96 according to the association, will soon begin a “permanent return trip to Senegal” after a life spent in France, which they served as soldiers during the wars of decolonization, mainly in Indochina. and in Algeria.
This trip was made possible thanks to a derogatory measure decided by the French government, which allows them to live permanently in their country of origin, without losing their minimum old-age allowance. Before that, “they had the obligation to stay 6 months a year in France to continue to receive this minimum old-age allowance of 950 euros per month – an allowance which notably allowed their families who remained in the country to have a minimum for support themselves,” the association explains.
“All their families, wives, children, grandchildren, etc. are in the country,” observes spokeswoman Fatou Biramah. A family that they had to leave to live in France for six months, “alone in rooms not exceeding 15 m2”. “It was heavy,” she says.
The aid put in place, the amount of which is not disclosed, aims to finance their return trip and their resettlement in their country of origin. Medical assistance in Senegal will notably be covered by France, according to Ms. Biramah.
The Veterans Affairs Secretariat estimates that 37 “Senegalese Tirailleurs” – all of Senegalese origin – live in France. These people, who have long suffered from a lack of recognition from France, are mostly alone.
Created during the Second Empire (1852-1870) and dissolved in the early 1960s, the French corps of “Senegalese Tirailleurs” brought together soldiers born in the former French colonies in Africa and enlisted in the French army.
The term came to designate all soldiers from sub-Saharan Africa who fought under the French flag, regardless of their nationality or country of origin. They participated in the Second World War and the wars of decolonization.
