Coronavirus: how to repatriate the body of the deceased from France to Senegal?

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With the Covid-19 health crisis, several African countries closed their borders. There are no more air links and countries, like Senegal, refuse the repatriation of the bodies of diaspora members who have succumbed to the virus.

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In the midst of a pandemic, many Senegalese families in France who have lost a loved one can no longer go and bury him at home, because of the risks of contagion which would be linked to the manipulation of bodies. No question for the Senegalese government to open its borders.

For the representative of the Senegalese diaspora in France, this argument is not enough!

"  When someone dies from Covid, the undertaker puts the person in a tightly closed plastic bag, " he explains. They put this bag in a hermetically welded aluminum case and this aluminum case is put in another wooden case, also closed. So there, we consider that there is no longer any risk of manipulation, nor of contamination  ”.

Amadou Sall has just lost his father, victim of the Covid-19. It is impossible for him to obtain a consular pass to repatriate his body - stored in a cold warehouse in Rungis- to the country of his ancestors, in accordance with his last wishes. 

"  My father, he's been at Rungis for four weeks ... I have to pay 30 euros a day. We are asking the Senegalese government to help us repatriate the body to Senegal ... If we cannot go and collect the body from the airport in Senegal, the government can recover it ... ", and the bodies of the deceased can be buried in a separate place, continues Amadou Sall.

A proposal: build a specific cemetery to accommodate these dead from abroad. All these families are appealing to the Senegalese government to finally find a solution, so that their loved ones can rest in peace.

► Also to listen : Macky Sall, the Senegalese president, guest of RFI: "An enlarged curfew, but no confinement" in Senegal

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• Coronavirus
• France
• Senegal

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