“A vicious circle”: Repatriation of Bissau-Guinean Quranic Schoolboys From Senegal

Author: Boiro, Hamadou & Einarsdóttir, Jónína

Abstract: This article treats repatriation of Bissau-Guinean Quranic schoolboys from Senegal where they beg for their teachers who are named marabouts. Data is based on fieldwork that occurred between 2009 and 2017 and focuses on the marabouts, parents, villagers, NGO staff and boys who have been repatriated to Guinea-Bissau. Repatriation benefits some actors while others are hurt. The authorities strive to fulfill commitments to combat child trafficking vis-à-vis the international community, however without prosecuting the marabouts who are influential community leaders. The NGOs keep their business going and “capture” boys for repatriation, which some marabouts and parents use as free transport for boys to Guinea-Bissau in line with seasonal labor demands. Many of the repatriated boys return to Senegal to escape stigma, rejection, and mistrust attached with repatriation at the family and community levels. While back, some boys keep on with Quranic studies, others run some business or take village boys with them to beg. Through repatriation, boys circulate between the countries, yet most Bissau-Guinean Quranic schoolboys in Senegal never enter the circle. The marabouts, empowered with symbolic capital, adjust to the dynamism of repatriation as a social space, aiming to keep the position as the masters of the game.

Keywords: child trafficking, repatriation, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal