At least 30 decomposing bodies have been found on a boat off the coast of Senegal, military authorities say.
The navy was alerted to a ship drifting about 70km (45 miles) off the capital Dakar, according to a military statement on X. They brought the wooden boat, known as a pirogue, into port on Monday morning.
“Recovery, identification and transfer operations are becoming extremely difficult due to the severe state of decomposition of the bodies,” the statement said.
There has been a recent increase in the number of migrants setting off from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands – a journey of more than 1,500 km (950 miles) across the Atlantic.
Based on the state of decomposition of the bodies, the migrants probably drifted in the Atlantic for days before being found by fishermen.
The military said investigations were underway to determine when and where the boat departed and how many people were on board.
“We have to avoid this kind of journey. It is a form of suicide,” said Dakar boat owner Mandiaye Diène.
Swordfishers, who venture more than 60km offshore, often come across floating corpses or boats carrying corpses adrift on the water, he told the BBC.
“It’s a sad fate. I certainly don’t support this form of migration, but people are desperate,” said Bassirou Mbengue, a fisherman and boat owner.
Some Senegalese fishermen say they can no longer survive by fishing because of the presence of foreign fishing vessels offshore, so they turn to migration or let traffickers use their boats..
“It’s dangerous to go to Europe by sea. I would never do it and neither would my children. But you can’t blame the people who go. There are no fish left on our shores and fishing equipment is expensive,” said Mr Mbengue, 50.
The Senegalese government announced a 10-year plan in August to tackle illegal migration amid a surge in migrant-related deaths.
In recent weeks, authorities have intercepted hundreds of migrants on boats off the country’s coast.
Despite frequent tragedies, unemployment, conflict and poverty still drive young men to venture from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Boubacar Sèye, president of Horizons sans Frontières, an NGO raising awareness of the impact of illegal immigration, told the BBC that “with the recurrence of this type of tragedy, we can say that this is no longer a cyclical phenomenon but a structural one”.
“To stop this, we need to tackle the problem at its roots, with new ways to raise awareness in the most vulnerable areas,” said Mr. Sèye.
For him, “the despair is so complete” that for many, “the most vulnerable think they have no future in this country”.
Young migrants from West Africa are increasingly using the Canary Islands route to reach Europe as it is a unique but dangerous journey instead of having to cross both the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea.
Frontex, the European border agency, reported that in 2023, the Atlantic route increased by 161% compared to the previous year.
The United Nations says around 40,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands last year.
It is known that nearly 1,000 people died or went missing along the way. Although the actual number may be much higher.
Additional reporting by Natasha Booty
