Photo credit: informigrant
Senegal’s army said it intercepted over 250 “irregular migrants” in two days. However, it was after nearly 90 died while attempting to cross the perilous waters of the Atlantic earlier this month.
Dawn e-paper reports that the navy detained a boat on Friday carrying 202 people trying to reach Europe in fishing waters near Lompoul, northwest Senegal. Five women and a child were among those hoping to make the journey.
The army said on Saturday that it had arrested 57 “would-be irregular migrants” in the northwest coastal town of Saint Louis. The group included fifteen women who were made up of Senegalese, Ivorian, Malian and Gambian nationals.
The disaster prompted Senegalese President Ousmane Sonko to urge people not to risk the Atlantic Ocean’s currents in overcrowded vessels that are often not seaworthy.
However, the route is increasingly used even as the authorities are stepping up surveillance in the Mediterranean.
Sonko said, “I once again make a plea to the young: your solution is not to be found in boats” while addressing a crowd of youths in Saint-Louis
