As in most countries of the West African sub-region, young people in search of well-being who have emigrated are in transit in Benin. Their experiences and resolutions in this country are a form of resilience. Dialogue Migration met  with them in Cotonou to talk about their experiences and their resolutions.

In Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin, non-nationals are part of the working population and contribute to the economic life of this city, which comes alive day and night, in various sectors of activity. But each of them has its own story.

Léon is a young Cameroonian living in Benin. He landed in the country by a combination of circumstances. “I arrived in Benin in February 2023. I was in Tunisia where I was turned away,” he told Dialogue Migration. This young man, like many others, left his country “to search for a better livelihood”. When he embarked on his project to leave for Europe, Léon did not have a fixed destination in mind. “It depends on where God is going to take me,” he says of the planned destination in Europe.

“It’s no coincidence that I’m in Benin,” says Zacharie, “I think it was a spiritual plan and we’re at the materialisation stage,” added the young man in his late thirties. Indeed, after a short stay in Congo Brazzaville, he left for Nigeria where he spent almost three months before heading to Benin. His desire to leave his country was decided in one day when he decided to go and look for new opportunities. This is how he found himself in Benin without means.

Mirage of a Journey

Living in Benin for 1 year and 6 months, Basile landed in the country on a plane from Cameroon. “It was the trip that brought me to Benin. I arrived and the trip failed, I was forced to start activities here,” he says, staring into space.

He was supposed to travel to Belgium, but one of the matchmakers who was following his case, travelled to Kenya when he arrived. “He always gives me false hope,” he says of a trip to Europe by plane. Indeed, they are associates, a Cameroonian who brought him to a Beninese man, according to his explanations. Basile paid about two million CFA francs for this trip. When he arrived at his destination, he had to be housed for 6 months while he found a job. But his journey ended in Benin.

The motivation of this holder of the Brevet d’Etudes du premier cycle (BEPC), who later learned veterinary medicine in para-academic training and whose trip to Europe will be limited to a flight from Yaoundé to Cotonou can be explained. “When you see others travelling and coming back, it makes me want to go and make a comeback too,” says Basile.

After several unsuccessful attempts due to his lack of command of the local language and his accent that betrays him as not being Beninese, Basile finally found a place in a restaurant in La Haie vive, one of the upscale neighbourhoods in Cotonou. “I’m in a restaurant. I’m washing dishes over there,” says the young man with a broken voice.

Expectations…

Each of the migrants met by Dialogue Migration has an expectation. “What I’m waiting for is good governance in my country,” Léon said. Holder of a Certificate of Professional Aptitude in Carpentry, “There are young people who leave the country not because they don’t want to do anything, but because they have diplomas, but they can’t find work,” he laments. Sometimes faced with the financial difficulties of someone in another country, “You have to take everything back,” he says. However, for the time being, Léon is enjoying his “transit” country. “At the moment I am in Benin and I find Benin welcoming, I am not disturbed, I am quiet. I think I can live here as much as I want,” he sighs, hoping to always benefit from the protection of his host country.

Although he has regrets for the moment, for not having yet arrived where he intends to go, “I’m going to Europe to find myself, if I find a better life here I’ll stay,” says Basile, a 31-year-old father of one.

Zacharie, for his part, seems to be thriving in his activity in his current country of residence. “I started in Congo, then in Nigeria, I haven’t spent more than 4 months in the country. But here in Benin, I’ve already done more than four months and I have a studio,” he says. From thereafter, Zacharie remains very spiritual, “I’m not the one who draws the plans. When the time comes, God will point it out to me.”