The Senegalese Navy announced today, Saturday, that it intercepted two boats carrying 272 people on Friday, as part of a series of operations to intercept migrant boats seeking to reach Europe.
The Navy said on social media that among the passengers, who were intercepted by a Navy patrol boat in the Atlantic Ocean 100 kilometers off the capital, Dakar, were 16 women and seven children.
They were returned to the port of Dakar.
Another naval unit intercepted a boat carrying 71 migrants on Thursday.
The Senegalese Navy has intensified operations to intercept, rescue and care for boats of irregular migrants in recent weeks.
The Navy has intercepted 1,693 migrants since July 1, according to a statistic based on its data on social media networks.
Many of the people on these boats are Senegalese, but there are other nationalities.
Thousands of Africans try every year to reach Europe across the Atlantic Ocean along the coast, despite the danger of the journey.
They travel in primitive boats or motorized boats provided to them by smugglers in exchange for sums of money.
Many of these boats and boats are anchored in the islands of the Canary Archipelago of Spain, which is the gateway to Europe.
Senegal is one of the main countries of origin for migrants arriving in the Canary Islands.
The Canary Islands witnessed the arrival of 11,439 migrants between January 1 and August 31, an increase of 7.5 percent over the same period in 2022, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
This number is the highest during the aforementioned period since at least 2018, and most likely since 2006.
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