Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that nearly one thousand Senegalese citizens continue to live in temporary shelters, with no clear prospect of relocation to permanent housing, a decade after coastal floods struck the Langue de Barbarie peninsula and destroyed their homes.

HRW’s climate displacement researcher, Erica Bower, said: “A decade of living in uncertainty is an unacceptable reality for families already traumatized by climate displacement…The Senegalese government should provide families with the bare minimum for Khar Yalla to feel like home again: permanent permits to regularize their tenure.”

The organization noted that Senegalese families displaced by coastal floods initially lived in tents for several months before authorities relocated them to a site called Khar Yalla, a neighbourhood in the city of Saint Louis, Northern Senegal. Authorities granted these families temporary occupation permits pending a permanent solution, given that the mentioned site is not suitable for permanent habitation due to flood risks and a lack of essential services. However, after ten years, displaced citizens have not been provided with alternative housing while the next flood season approaches, which is contrary to their right to a permanent and adequate housing.

Senegal is obliged under international human rights law to protect and fulfill people’s right to adequate housing, which is recognised as part of the right to an adequate standard of living in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

On the other hand, HRW highlighted that the Senegalese government implemented some measures to improve conditions for displaced communities in Khar Yalla, such as providing electricity for some households. However, the organisation emphasised that these measures were insufficient to remedy the situation and called on national authorities to provide displaced families with permanent permits. HRW further added that the situation Khar Yalla underlines the authorities’ reliance on temporary, reactive measures which only perpetuate precarity for displaced people. Consequently, it recommended that Senegalese authorities establich a national policy on planned relocation that takes into consideration human rights principles, such as informed consent and meaningful participation, and sets criteria to ensure that selected relocation sites fulfill beneficiaries’ rights.

The UN has previously stated that climate-related disasters were the primary driver of internal displacement over the past decade, with projections indicating an increased risk of similar events in the future. This phenomenon seriously threatens the right to adequate housing globally, especially for vulnerable communities in high-risk regions. Therefore, in March 2026, UN experts called on member states to support a draft resolution requiring states to comply with their obligations to mitigate climate change.

Senegal was ranked among the four most climate-vulnerable countries worldwide, facing risks of droughts, floodings, and sea level rise, which will severely impact people’s livelihoods. In response to the increasing risk of displacement due to natural disasters, the UN Human Rights Council adopted in 2020 Resolution 43/13, which calls on member states to work with affected communities to develop and promote environmentally sustainable housing design and maintenance. The resolution also calls for the integration of the right to adequate housing into climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.