Dambele Mambi survived thanks to his business. But he dreamt of immigrating to Europe, so one day, he sold all his merchandise to pay for a trip to seek a better life. Having left Mali, he crossed Algeria and, from the Moroccan coast, tried to reach Europe by sea. After four attempted crossings on unsafe boats, two years passed during which he had to live in the desert. His only hope left was to one day cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in Morocco [1]. In Autumn 2005, after the desperate and repeated attempts of several thousand migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa trying to enter Europe, the Moroccan and Algerian governments deported Dambele and several hundred of his countrymen back to Mali. The conditions during the trip back to Bamako, the capital of Mali, were terrible, however they were not as bad as for their twenty or so fellow comrades who lost their lives in the desert on the way home. Or indeed as for many others, who were struck down or who drowned, never to get back up to seek the path to their Eldorado, their European Paradise…

New place, new hope, new fight 

Dambele remembers: “They leave you there with a little bottle of water, in the middle of nowhere, with no villages around, what are you supposed to do? The Moroccan military confiscated our cell phones, money, everything.” One of their friends had hidden his turned-off cell phone, without which they would not have been able to contact either RFI [2] or their country to be saved, let alone recount what they had gone through.

	© FDH / Painting done by a former immigrant from the organization Return-Work-Dignity

On arriving in Bamako, Aminata Traoré, founder of Return-Work-Dignity (RTD) was expecting them. Enough! She did not want them to leave again, and tried to help them find a solution in Mali. According to her, training and apprenticeship would allow them to live with dignity, while remaining in Mali. Just one year after its start, RTD, with the help of local organizations, gives hope to many deportees. Many of those helped have begun to make artisan crafts and pieces of art: paintings for some, necklaces and handbags for others. They are not artists but, in the opinions of Aminata and Malika Traoré, their teachers, they are on the right path. This has all allowed Dambele to say that “Paradoxically, what motivated us to leave was the hope of eventually being able to return to our own country. Now, thanks to Aminata, our situation here is much better. We don’t want to go back to Europe.” It was too much humiliation and rejection and now, these former migrants, rejected from Europe, want to recapture their dignity. Dambele adds, “People think we sit around and do nothing, but it’s not like that! We want to stay here, but the poverty makes it very difficult.”
Painting is a way for the migrants to tell their own story. On one canvas, one can see the traditional charms worn to protect them.  Another painting depicts the desert crossing. The pictures also represent the difficult reality of immigration, with powerful images, such as men searching for food in garbage bins. The migrants believe that in order to convince people thinking of leaving to stay behind, they have to speak out and have real discussions. All this takes time, and is part of a long-term process. “To young people who ask us for advice on leaving, all we have to say is, “Only you can help yourself, by learning a trade.”

Notes :

[1]  There are two Spanish enclaves in Morocco: Ceuta, the other one, is also a destination for immigrants.

[2]  RFI : Radio France International / French international radio