Senegal human rights group demands parliamentary inquiry after deadly migrant shipwreck
A deadly shipwreck off the coast of Senegal has claimed at least 39 lives, prompting the human rights organization Action for Human Rights and Friendship (ADHA) to demand a parliamentary inquiry into state migration policies. The pirogue departed from Saint-Louis in northern Senegal bound for the Spanish coast before capsizing on Sunday off the Lompoul dunes in the Kebemer department, roughly 180 kilometers north of Dakar. While emergency rescue crews initially confirmed 21 fatalities, ongoing searches raised the confirmed death count first to 34 and then to 39. Only one survivor was recovered alive, with several others still missing from a vessel whose total passenger count remains unconfirmed by the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences and pledged to crack down on human traffickers organizing these perilous sea crossings. However, ADHA denounced what it described as a lack of lasting progress, emphasizing that tragedies persist despite 300,000 euros ($336,000) pledged to the navy and the training of over 300 personnel. The incident reflects a broader surge in attempted Atlantic crossings from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands, where thousands have died in recent years, including 635 during the first five months of the year according to the rights group Walking Borders. Compounding the crisis, authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro recently declared an emergency after more than 3,300 migrants arrived aboard roughly 30 boats since early November.
Continue in the app — vote & join in ➔