Displaced Families In Limbo Nine Years On

(MENAFN- The Arabian Post)

A growing crisis unfolds in Saint-Louis as families uprooted from the Langue de Barbarie peninsula remain in precarious limbo at the Khar Yalla site, more than nine years after coastal erosion rendered their homes uninhabitable. Despite the introduction of temporary shelters at Diougop under the SERRP programme, many displaced persons continue to confront chronic hardship, vulnerability and the erosion of hope.

Dozens of families originally from Guet-Ndar, Gokhou-Mbathie and Santhiaba were relocated to Khar Yalla when the advancing sea swallowed their neighbourhoods, forcing an abrupt departure from their ancestral homes. Over time, makeshift tents and flimsy structures erected by municipal authorities became their only refuge, lacking basic services such as running water, sanitation or electricity. Life there became synonymous with perpetual insecurity, overcrowding and squalid hygiene conditions, with residents describing a perpetual“bagnard” existence characterised by foul odours, shared pit latrines and the constant threat of flooding when rains fell.

Since 2018, the Saint-Louis Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project, backed by World Bank financing, sought to alleviate the crisis. As part of the SERRP, hundreds of Better Shelter units were deployed at Diougop, roughly ten kilometres inland, giving over 200 units, serving around 42 families initially, a safer and more sanitary environment. The modular shelters included functioning schools and basic social infrastructure, making a marked improvement over the derelict conditions at Khar Yalla.

Independent analysis confirms that the overarching objective of SERRP was to reduce vulnerability to coastal hazards and reinforce resilience in the urban fabric of Saint-Louis, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Between 2018 and 2023, approximately USD 35 million was allocated under the programme, facilitating a strategic retreat from the immediate coast and enabling permanent relocation plans. By 2025, surveys show that more than 1,400 people, across approximately 115 households, were rehoused in Diougop, benefiting from designed concessions with road access and social services.

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On the ground, new challenges have emerged. In early 2025, fifty women and forty-five young people residing at both Khar Yalla and Diougop received training certificates after completing vocational programmes in areas including cereal processing, tailoring and hairdressing. The initiative, supported by Rapen, Luxembourg and the Platform for Climate Justice, aims to diversify livelihoods, particularly for women who previously relied almost exclusively on fish processing. Project coordinators emphasised that erosion had severely undermined economic stability, making skills development indispensable to restoring social and economic autonomy.

Nevertheless, many residents feel stranded. Those without access to Diougop's shelters remain stuck in Khar Yalla, where the threat of flooding is recurrent. A significant flood in December 2024 inundated parts of Khar Yalla when the Senegal River overflowed, displacing inhabitants yet again. Makeshift access paths created with bricks, tyres and sandbags became necessary just to reach homes. While authorities established a crisis unit and temporary shelters in response, displaced residents decried the lack of durable solutions to shield them from the region's worsening climate volatility.

These developments highlight a complex, layered crisis that combines environmental degradation, infrastructural negligence and social marginalisation. The state, along with municipal agencies and international partners, have implemented partial measures-temporary shelter, relocation sites, vocational training-but many families continue to exist in a state of protracted displacement, with limited access to safe housing, livelihoods, and dignity.

The situation in Saint-Louis reflects broader challenges for coastal communities facing relentless erosion. The peninsula of Langue de Barbarie, once a vibrant stretch of land and a protected national park, has been shrinking over the years: a breach cut in 2003 widened dramatically, and by 2020, the sea had claimed over three kilometres of land.

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