<P>Have you seen these Senegalese dancers? Seventeen dancers with the Ballet d'Afrique Noire disappeared after a performance at UC Berkeley. Speculation is that they are seeking political asylum.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,500192361-500260496-501343258-0,00.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,500192361-500260496-501343258-0,00.html</A> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/13/MN36825.DTL" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/13/MN36825.DTL</A>

As chance would have it, my local Amnesty International Group had a group of prisoners in Senegal until recently, when we passed the case on, after 5 years of letter writing.<P>Senegal is separated into two parts and the southern region, Casamance, wants independence. There has been bitter fighting for most of the last decade, with major human rights abuses on both sides. Our prisoners were part of a legitimate, non-violent independence group who have been imprisoned by the authorities for many years.I know from a London based dance group that dance is strong in Casamance, so it may be that the dancers are from there. On the face of it, they may well have good grounds for seeking asylum. I'ma bitpuzzled about the comments about the relative stability in Senegal quoted by US sources. perhaps they are referring to the Northern section, rather than the South where there is a civil war going on.<P>I know that Canada has an exemplery record in granting asylum. Not sure what the position is in the USA. <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited April 13, 2000).]

Here is a follow-up story to the missing Senegalese. Apparently, they defected because of lack of pay.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/14/MN63711.DTL&type=performance" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/14/MN63711.DTL&type=performance</A>