You've seen them around Buenos Aires--where they stand out because of the surprising lack of black Argentines--and you've wondered about the who/how/when/why. Happily, last weekend's La Nación delved into the story of Buenos Aires' recent wavelet of African immigrants. The article traces the hundreds of recent arrivals from Senegal, Nigeria, Camerún, Liberia and Sierra Leona, many of whom sell jewelry from briefcases on the city's streets. A few takeaways:
* The majority are refugees who've requested asylum (largely from wars).One final interesting factoid from the article: in 1810, 33% of Argentina's population had African blood.
* The rest have arrived via Brazil.
* 859 people requested refugee status in Argentina last year, up 47% from the previous year; 38% were Sengalese.
* Most are males under 40 without family.
* The Senegalese have problems getting refugee status because there is no war in their country and Senegal has no diplomatic relationship with Argentina; most of them enter via Brazil.
* "There are more than 2,000 of us Senegalese here," says Alioune Ndiouje, 27.
* New arrivals buy a pre-made plastic portfolio of jewelry to tell on the streets; it costs 500 pesos.
* Compared to European capitals, Buenos Aires is welcoming to Africans. "I know from friends that went to Europe that it'stough there," says Alioune. " Argentina is a country of immigrants and there's no racism, luckily."
3 comments:
One group missing from La Nacion's report are the Cape Verdeans. Someone from the islands was explaining to me that the largest population outside of the islands lives here in Argentina - until recently, a large percentage of them lived in Dock Sur on the outskirts of the city and kept a fairly isolated community - only in the last year or two, possibly because other Africans have become more visible as noted in the article, have they begun to mix more.
I smirked a bit when I read, "Argentina is a country of immigrants and there's no racism, luckily." I have met a number of Argentines who have racist attitudes, particularly about blacks. There are very few dark faces here in Necochea where I'm living, and they tend to cause a bit of a sensation.
Wonderfully informative post, Ian. Comment on Cape Verde is correct from my visits but you offer a fulsome glimpse of the ways globalism and Africa are coming to BA.
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