DAKAR, Senegal — When Nadege Anelka first came to the West African country of Benin from her home island of Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, the 57-year-old travel agent said she had a feeling of deja vu.
”A lot of the people reminded me of my grandparents, the way they wore their headscarves, their mannerisms, their mentality,” she said.
Feeling at home in Benin, Anelka decided to settle there last July and open a travel agency. She hopes to become a citizen by taking advantage of a law passed in September that grants citizenship to those who can trace their lineage to the slave trade.
The new law, which was initiated by President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, is part of a broader effort by Benin to reckon with its own historical role in the slave trade.
The law is open to all over 18 who do not already hold other African citizenship and can provide proof that an ancestor was deported via the slave trade from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Beninese authorities accept DNA tests, authenticated testimonies and family records.
Anelka used ”Anchoukaj” (“Affiliation” in Antillean Creole), a website recognized by Benin to trace her heritage, proving that her ancestors were slaves in Martinique. If her application is successful, she will receive a provisional certificate of nationality valid for three years. To get citizenship, she’ll be required to stay at least once in Benin during that period.
Benin is not the first country to grant citizenship to descendants of slaves. Earlier this month, Ghana naturalized 524 African Americans after the West African country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, invited them to ”come home” in 2019, as part of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in North America in 1619.
But Benin’s citizenship law carries added significance, in part because of the role it played in the slave trade as one of the main points of departure.
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Publish date : 2024-12-13 19:07:00
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