http://af.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=AFJOE60H0A820100118

Senegal offers land for "returning" Haitians
Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:07am GMT

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal and other African nations should offer
victims of Haiti's earthquake the chance to resettle in the continent,
possibly in a newly created state of their own, the West African
nation has urged.

"Africa should offer Haitians the chance to return home. It is their
right. There is nothing to haggle about," President Abdoulaye Wade
said on his website.

Television images of black, French-speaking Haitians in distress have
touched a nerve across Francophone West and central Africa.

Wade said he would propose to the 53-nation African Union the creation
for Haitians of "their own state on African territory, the land of
their ancestors", according to the text of his proposal published in
local newspapers on Monday.

Local media quoted Senegalese officials as saying the country was
ready to offer parcels of fertile land to Haitians, many of whom are
still waiting for aid after Tuesday's earthquake believed to have
killed as many as 200,000.

The idea for a new state is reminiscent of the 19th century creation
of Liberia by freed U.S. slaves. The West African country is currently
recovering from a 1999 civil war and is hoping to benefit from recent
oil discoveries off its coast.

Wade argued that Haitians are the descendants of slaves and so had the
right to repatriation on the African continent. Senegal has also
pledged $1 million emergency aid and begun preparations for televised
fund-raising event.

The country of around 13 million straddles both the arid Sahel area
and the lusher region around its southern border.

While one of the more stable countries in West Africa, it suffers high
unemployment and acute deficiencies in basic infrastructure including
roads and electricity supply.

Wade, 83, has long portrayed himself on the world stage as a defender
of the poor, although his critics say that some of his schemes fail to
live up to expectations.

Democratic Republic of Congo, which has just been told by the
International Monetary Fund that its debt levels are fiscally
unsustainable, pledged $2.5 million aid at the weekend.

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