A dozen soldiers of Senegalese origin living in France will be able to return to Senegal in April thanks to exceptional financial aid from the French State, the Secretary of State for Veterans learned this Wednesday.
“This important and exceptional aid”, decided by the Secretary of State for Veterans and Remembrance Patricia Mirallès, is framed “within the framework of the solidarity that the State has with the veterans and that will allow these shooters to return home in good condition “. conditions,” one of his advisers told AFP.
The purpose of this aid is to finance the return journey, transfer and resettlement of these people in Senegal.
“Some accumulate several decades in France, it is a lifetime that they must earn and that is why we also help them in that,” stressed the counselor.
“This support from the Ministry of the Armed Forces to its veterans so that they can return to their families, their children and their grandchildren, is part of the solidarity measures that the National Office of Combatants and War Victims grants daily to their compatriots. It is an honor for the Republic to worry about those who have given so much for their defense,” Patricia Mirallès said in a statement to AFP.
The amount of aid not disclosed
The Secretary of State did not want to specify the amount of this aid to preserve the “serenity” of the return of the beneficiaries. This amount was set based on the needs and “in agreement with the stakeholders and the associations” that are historically with them, explained the counselor.
The Veterans Affairs Secretariat estimates the number of Senegalese tirailleurs living in France at 37.
During a first trip scheduled for April, a dozen -most of them over 85 and some over 95- will return to Senegal, the adviser said.
These people are mostly alone. “That’s one of the reasons they want to go back to Senegal, is to be with their families,” she added.
a work of memory
Created under 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 ended up designating all the soldiers of black Africa who fought under the French flag, whatever their nationality or country of origin. They participated in World War II and in the decolonization wars, especially in Indochina and Algeria. His story has long been underestimated, even ignored.
The ministry indicated that it was “not aware” today of “skirmishers who are not of Senegalese nationality” living in France, but if there were, the return assistance system would be the same.
In January, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that the last “Senegalese skirmishers” could return to their country of origin by reaching the minimum age of old age.
Source: BFM TV
