Europe is no longer the only ‘El Dorado’ for sub-Saharan Africans: the case of contemporary Senegalese migration to Turkey

Abstract

Europeans generally assume that sub-Saharan Africa is a continent in crisis, whose population is desperately seeking to enter the European El Dorado. A Eurocentric perception reflected by the academic research which almost exclusively focuses on an African exodus towards Europe. Consequently, evidence of an increasing presence of sub-Saharan Africans in non-European countries is ignored. Hypothesizing about the determinants of this geographical shift, authors have suggested changes in perceptions on Europe as preferred destination for sub-Saharan Africans. This argument is, however, overshadowed by the dominant transit hypothesis claiming a status quo in sub-Saharan Africans’ perceptions on and migratory aspirations to Europe. Although contested, the transit hypothesis is still used to explain contemporary sub-Saharan African migration as in the case of Turkey. Based on a case study of Senegalese in Istanbul, this contribution explores the empirical validity of the transit hypothesis. Acknowledging the legacy of colonization in directing migration patterns, this paper raises the question whether instead of the transit hypothesis the presence of sub-Saharan Africans in non-European countries represents changes in their perceptions on Europe. Qualitative research findings illustrate that perceptions and migratory aspirations are more differentiated and dynamic, challenging the prevailing assumption on sub-Saharan Africans’ presence in Turkey. This paper argues that the transit hypothesis fails to do justice to the diversity of reality and supports the argument that we should regard Europe as one of many possible destinations for sub-Saharan Africans instead of the destination.