By Omar Bah
A boat with at least 30 bodies was discovered adrift off the coast of Senegal’s capital as the number of migrants leaving West Africa has been increasing. Ibrahima Sow, a spokesman for Senegal’s military, stated that the navy was alerted to the vessel’s presence on Sunday evening and dispatched a boat patrol to the area, approximately 70 kilometers (38 nautical miles) from Dakar.
“So far, 30 bodies have been counted,” said Mr. Sow. Due to the advanced state of decomposition of the bodies, the identification process is proving to be very difficult, as reported by the military. They mentioned that further investigations would provide more information on the death toll and the boat’s origin.
Earlier this month, a boat carrying 89 people capsized off the coast of Senegal, resulting in at least 37 deaths, according to Senegalese authorities. Many migrants leaving West Africa through Senegal are fleeing conflict, poverty, and a lack of employment opportunities. Most of them aim for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa, which serves as a gateway to continental Europe.
More than 22,300 people have arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the year, marking a 126% increase compared to last year, according to statistics released by Spain’s Interior Ministry. Last month, the Senegalese army announced the arrest of 453 migrants and “members of smuggling networks” as part of a 12-day operation patrolling the coastline. The army stated that over half of those detained were Senegalese nationals.
In July, a boat carrying 300 migrants, mainly from Gambia and Senegal, capsized off Mauritania. Over a dozen people lost their lives, and at least 150 others went missing.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world. While there is no accurate death toll due to the lack of information on departures from West Africa, the Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders estimates that the number of victims this year alone is in the thousands. Migrant vessels that become lost or encounter issues often disappear in the Atlantic, with some drifting across the ocean for months until they are found in the Caribbean and Latin America, carrying only human remains.
