On the side of the busy highway that leads out of the city of Saint-Louis, in northwestern Senegal, is a site known as Khar Yalla. Its name means “waiting for God” in Wolof. Around 1 000 people have been living at the site, since 2016.

They come from tightly knit, historic fishing communities on the Langue de Barbarie peninsula, located five kilometers from Khar Yalla, which is one of the most exposed places in Africa to sea level rise and other impacts of the climate crisis. A decade ago, the families lived in houses on the beach, within walking distance of their closest friends and relatives.

Most men spent their days fishing, while most women cleaned, smoked, and sold the fish they brought back. But in 2015 and 2016, coastal floods destroyed their homes, making them internally displaced peoples (IDPs). Municipal authorities temporarily housed the displaced families in tents in the Langue de Barbarie, then moved them to Khar Yalla into houses that had been constructed for an earlier, failed planned relocation project that was meant to protect other families threatened by flooding.

The families displaced by the 2015 and 2016 floods agreed to be moved to Khar Yalla, hoping that the site would offer temporary protection until they could rebuild on the Langue de Barbarie or be relocated by the government to new, permanent homes.

Report by the Human Rights Watch