Senegal: at least 35 dead in the sinking of a migrant canoe

At least 35 people died in the sinking of a canoe carrying migrants off the coast of Kébémer, in the north-west of Senegal, where searches continue to find possible other victims, according to a new provisional report communicated to AFP on Sunday evening by the firefighters.

Thousands of people from West Africa, mostly young people, have been trying for years to reach Europe clandestinely by taking the Atlantic route, mainly towards the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, aboard overloaded and often dilapidated boats.

On Saturday evening, the Senegalese Ministry of the Interior reported the death of 21 people and one survivor in the sinking of a migrant canoe off the coast of Kébémer, indicating in a press release that the search for possible survivors was continuing. Sunday evening, the toll rose to 35 dead and one survivor, firefighters told AFP. “This is a provisional assessment which has been evolving since Friday with five bodies at the start,” they clarified. A source at the Interior Ministry told AFP that “the toll will unfortunately rise.”

According to the national daily Le Soleil, the tragedy took place off the coast of the town of Loumpoul, in the Louga region (Kébémer department), between Dakar and Saint-Louis. “Most of the victims came from the communes of Léona and Thiéppe”, in the same department, adds the daily. “The shipwreck happened on Friday,” explained Saliou Diouf, founder of “Boza Fii”, one of the main associations helping migrants in Senegal. “We do not know exactly if there are other nationalities because the research continues. But the bodies recovered yesterday (Saturday) are those of Senegalese,” he said.

On Sunday, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye assured on Facebook that “all the authorities and all the means of the State are mobilized to find the missing, take care of the survivors and support the families.” The Minister of the Interior must go to the scene on Monday to “show the compassion and solidarity of the State to the families of the victims and the affected populations,” according to a press release.

Also on Saturday, the Senegalese gendarmerie announced that they had intercepted 142 illegal migrants, including women and children, who were trying to reach Spain aboard a canoe on Friday off the coast of Dakar.

Among those intercepted were 40 Senegalese including four women, 93 Gambians including 17 women, a national of Guinea-Bissau, two Guineans and two Nigerians, according to the gendarmerie. The group also included two infants and two minor children.

To escape the conflicts ravaging their countries or the authoritarianism of juntas, or in search of a better future in the face of poverty and lack of opportunities at home, thousands of young West Africans have been trying for years to emigrate, particularly to Europe. Thousands of people have died or disappeared trying to reach Europe in recent years.

At the end of October, the NGO Action for Human Rights and Friendship (ADHA) questioned Senegal about the persistence of “dangerous departures” towards Europe of migrants, including “nearly 1,000” West Africans who arrived in the Spanish Canaries on October 22 and 23. “No departure should have the sea as its only horizon. We will tirelessly continue the fight against those who organize these crossings,” President Faye assured Sunday.

The recent strengthening of controls at sea by Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco has pushed back the departures of canoes for the Canaries towards the south, towards the coasts of Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, further extending the duration of dangerous crossings.