The Ethnologue Website of ethno-linguistic groups states that Sarahole is an alternate name for the language called Soninke and is spoken among 58,800 people in Gambia and among 172,500 people in Senegal (July 2002a). Ethnologue also indicates that the Soninke language is spoken among 100,000 people in Cote d'Ivoire, 5,750 people in Guinea-Bissau, 30,000 people in Mauritania, and 700,000 in Mali including 125,000 Diawara and 374,042 mother tongue Marka speakers (Ethnologue July 2002a). Additional references to the Sarahole language could not be found among sources consulted by the Research Directorate. Furthermore, no references to the Sarrakallh language could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Ethnologue lists the following languages as those spoken in Sierra Leone: Bassa, Bom, Bullom So, English, Fuuta Jalon, Gola, Kisi (southern), Kissi (northern), Klao, Kono, Krim, Krio, Kuranko, Limba (east), Limba (west-central), Loko, Maninka (Kankan), Mende, Sherbro, Susu, Themne, Vai and Yalunka (July 2002b). Sarahole or Sarrakallh is not listed as an alternate name for any of the languages listed above.

Two references to the Sarahole ethnic group were found among sources consulted. In a presentation called Consequences of a Global Adult Education Strategy: The Case of Rural African Migrant Women in Spain, Adriana Kaplan includes the Sarahole in her list of African immigrant populations in Spain that "keep a high degree of internal (kinship) solidarity, forming homogeneous groups by ethnicity" (15 Nov. 1999). In a paper on migration trajectories in Gambia, Anna Farjas i Bonet states that Gambia is composed of various ethnic groups including the Sarahole, the Mandinga, the Fula and the Wolof (Tra( Dec. 2000). Bonet also claims that the Sarahole make up 8 per cent of the Gambian population and reside mainly in the eastern region of the country (ibid.).

It may be of interest that two references were found to the Sarahules in Sierra Leone (The Independent 22 Jan. 2001; ibid. 19 Jan. 2001). An article by The Independent reported that "marakas, the name used by Sierra Leoneans for the Sarahules who live in that country" and who are involved in the diamond trade, were being expelled to Gambia, Mali and Senegal by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) "after a row over the discovery and purchase of a 28-carat diamond by a certain maraka, who reportedly disappeared without trace" (22 Jan. 2001).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Ethnologue. July 2002a. "Soninke: A Language of Mali." http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=SNN [Accessed 28 Jan. 2003]

_____. July 2002b. "Languages of Sierra Leone." http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Sierra+Leone [Accessed 29 Jan. 2003]

The Independent [Banjul]. 22 January 2001. "Sierra Leone Rebels Expel Marakas as 28-Carat Diamond Disappears." (Global News Wire - Africa News Service/NEXIS)

_____. 19 January 2001. "'Marakas' React to 'Blood' Diamond Saga Accuse Government of Shifting Blame." (Global News Wire - Africa News Service/NEXIS)

Kaplan, Adriana. 15 November 1999. Consequences of a Global Adult Education Strategy: The Case of Rural African Migrant Women in Spain. Paper presented at the Educational Strategies, Families and Population Dynamics seminar organized by the Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography (CICRED) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. http://www.ced.uab.es/PDFs/PapersPDF/Text175.pdf [Accessed 28 Jan. 2003]

Tra(. December 2000. No. 29. Anna Farjas i Bonet. "Traject(ria migrat(ria dels alumnes d'origen gambi( a Olot." http://www.xtec.es/entitats/cmg/revista/arti1.htm [Accessed 28 Jan. 2003]

The Encyclopaedia Britannica

IRB Databases

NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

Adherents.com

Africa Online

AllAfrica.com

BBC Africa

Ethnologue: Languages of the World

Gambia Daily News

Indigenous Knowledge Network

World News.com

World News Connection (WNC)

Search engine:

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