A/HRC/17/33/Add.2 IV. Major challenges in the protection of the human rights of migrants in Senegal A. Socio-economic challenges 59. One of the major challenges is to provide urban and rural youth, who represent the majority of those attempting the perilous voyage across the ocean, with employment opportunities and just and favourable conditions of work.18 In 2002 the permanent unemployment rate (measuring the population aged between 15 and 64 who had not worked continuously during the preceding 12 months and who were looking or waiting for jobs) was estimated at 13 per cent, whereas the rate of the active population without a job was estimated at between 40 and 50 per cent. Permanent unemployment affected those below the age of 35 in particular, among whom the rate reaches 30 per cent according to 2007 estimates of the World Bank.19 According to the organization, every year in Senegal about 16,000 direct or indirect jobs are created through various programmes and initiatives. This, however, manages to engage only 5 per cent of those who are unemployed or who declare themselves as underemployed. 60. The Second Senegalese Household Survey showed that in 2001/02 approximately 57.1 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line. The prevalence of poverty was reportedly higher in rural areas, where 65.2 per cent of the population and 57.5 per cent of households lived below the poverty line. 61. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its concluding observations on Senegal in 2001 expressed concern that 30 per cent of the Senegalese were living in absolute poverty, that 70 per cent of the poor came from the countryside and were women, and that poverty was on the increase (E/C.12/1/Add.62, para. 29). It also expressed concern about the high unemployment rate especially among the young people living in Dakar (para. 18) and that the minimum wage was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families (para. 19). 62. The socio-economic stagnation, the perception of emigration as the only realistic strategy to move out of poverty, and the limited available options to emigrate legally have influenced attitudes to the risks of migrating by boat, namely, death and return.20 In one study, the greatest commonality among those who attempted to migrate through pirogues from Senegal seemed to be their determination to break out of protracted economic and social stagnation. Second to this was the shared conviction that they could not accomplish this wish by staying within the country.21 Even though pirogue migrants may not have been found to be the poorest in their society (considering that a sea crossing may cost on average 620 euros22), their possibilities for socio-economic advancement at home appear severely limited.23 63. With regard to social protection for migrants, all salaried workers, whether Senegalese or foreign, employed in the private, public or semi-public sectors are entitled to 18 19 20 21 22 23 14 In 2006 the total population of Senegal was estimated at 11,077,484, of which an estimated 54.4 per cent were young persons (below the age of 20). As cited in IOM, Migration en Sénégal, p. 17. Maria Hernández Carretero, “Risk-taking in unauthorised migration”, Master thesis, University of Tromso, Norway, 2008, p. 33. Ibid., p. 34. Focus Migration, “Senegal”, Country Profile No. 10, November 2007, p. 6. Carretero, “Risk-taking”, p. 34.