The capsizing of a cayuco that was heading to the Canary Islands in Mauritanian waters has caused a new tragedy on the Atlantic migration route. On July 1, Mauritanian coastguards went to the rescue of a large artisanal fishing boat that was partially sunken about four kilometers from Ndiago, in the south of the country, from which they recovered 89 bodies and nine survivors, among them a five-year-old girl, according to the Mauritanian Information Agency. Those rescued told the Mauritanian authorities that the cayuco had set sail from a point near the border between Senegal and Gambia days before and that there were about 170 people on board, so, in addition to the dead, there are about 70 missing.
The cause of the accident is not entirely clear, but relatives of the victims say they received warnings that a fire had broken out on board. This is not the first time that a fire has spread in a cayuco, which is loaded with hundreds of litres of fuel to complete the crossing, and has claimed the lives of dozens of people. Among the dead are people of at least four nationalities: 14 Senegalese from Mbour, Guineans, Gambians and Malians. For days, relatives of the victims from the Koutouninkoto area, in the Malian region of Kayes, have been trying to gather information about the fate of their loved ones.
The number of cayucos leaving Senegal for the Canary Islands has decreased compared to last year, but attempts continue to be made. On Wednesday, the Senegalese Navy intercepted a cayuco with 74 people on board, 20 of them minors, in the Yenné area, about 100 kilometres south of Dakar. In June, the Navy stopped four other boats with 470 people on board, the last of which was on 25 June off the coast of Saint Louis, according to a statement from the organisation. At least one of them had set sail from Gambia, where departures have intensified so far this year.
Recently, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, travelled to both Senegal and Gambia to strengthen cooperation on migration control and political dialogue with the authorities. In Dakar, he held a meeting with his Senegalese counterpart, Yacine Fall, with clandestine emigration always on the table. So far this year, some 19,000 people have arrived in the Canary Islands by irregular sea route, three times as many as in the same period in 2023 but far from the figures for the second half of 2024. Since the end of last year, the new epicentre of cayuco departures has been Mauritania and, in particular, the area around the city of Nouadhibou, in the north of the country.
The 180-degree political change in Senegal following the March elections has given thousands of young people hope in their country after a long political and social crisis that lasted four years, during which protests left 60 dead and more than a thousand arrested. The coming to power of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and their promises of jobs, justice and development have discouraged some young people from trying to emigrate. However, changes are not fast and hundreds continue to try their luck.
Both Senegal and Gambia have high rates of youth unemployment, but the problems are more serious in Guinea and Mali. Mali is facing a 12-year conflict that has intensified since 2023, marked by jihadist attacks, a counter-offensive by the army and its Russian allies, a Tuareg insurgency in the north and curtailments of freedoms by the ruling military junta. Tens of thousands of people have fled to neighbouring Mauritania, and many of them are trying to continue from there to the Canary Islands. Guinea is also home to a military dictatorship that represses civil society and political parties.
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