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The Senegalese navy intercepted 201 West African migrants in the west of the country, authorities announced Wednesday, as the Atlantic Ocean crossing remains the most popular – and deadliest – migration route from Africa to Europe.
The operation was carried out by the Senegalese marines based in Foundiougne, in the Fatick region of western Senegal, the army said in a statement Wednesday. Sixty-nine people were arrested on land, according to the statement, while 132 others were intercepted aboard a small wooden boat, or pirogue, in the Saloum Delta on Tuesday evening.
While migration to Europe has been steadily declining, the Atlantic Ocean crossing between West Africa and Spain’s Canary Islands has resurfaced since 2020. Nearly 47,000 people landed in the Canaries in 2024, up from nearly 40,000 in 2023, according to figures from the Spanish Interior Ministry.
The crossing is one of the deadliest in the world. Although there is no precise death toll due to a lack of information on departures from West Africa, the Spanish migrant rights association Walking Borders estimates that the victims is in the thousands this year alone.
Those arrested Wednesday are of various West African nationalities, including several women and children, according to DIRPA. The Saloum Delta is an increasingly common departure point for illegal migrants .
While most migrants leaving Senegal are young men, aid workers in the Canary Islands say they are increasingly seeing women and children risking their lives.
Last year, the European Union signed a €210 million agreement with Mauritania to prevent smugglers from launching boats bound for Spain. So far, this agreement has had little impact on migrant arrivals.
In Senegal, travel attempts increase in winter, as the change of season reduces the intensity of waves, but migrants choose to take the risk year-round.
Migrant ships that get lost or run into trouble often disappear in the Atlantic, some drifting across the ocean for months until they are found in the Caribbean and Latin America, carrying only human remains.
Until recently, this route was mainly used by migrants from West African countries fleeing poverty or violence. But since last year, migrants from faraway countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan have increasingly boarded the fishing boats used to reach the European archipelago.
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