Senegal proposes right of return to Africa for Haiti quake victims

Nairobi/Dakar, Senegal (Earth Times) - The victims of last week's earthquake in Haiti should be offered a "right of return" to Africa, says Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, the online edition of the Le Soleil newspaper reported Sunday. Wade argues that because many Haitians are the descendants of slaves forcibly sent to the Western hemisphere, Africa needs to show its hospitality to them, the report said, citing a presidential spokesman.

"They have the same right to African soil as we do. It would be a return home."

Wade plans to present a resolution to that effect before the African Union.

The president noted the example of Liberia, a nation formed of slaves returning to Africa, which showed that such a return is "difficult, but not impossible."