SENEGAL: Following a futile ten-hour search, the Senegalese navy patrol boat Walo came onto a vessel travelling quickly through the dark waters. The crew of the ship was aware of the possible risks associated with maritime missions to Spain’s Canary Islands since they had been educated to differentiate between regular fishing boats and those transporting thousands of migrants. They were also wary of the vessel’s unusually high midnight pace.
It took the Walo more than an hour to catch up with the people aboard the little fishing boat that it was chasing. The Walo ignored their early attempts to intercept. The Walo, on the other hand, despatched armed special troops in support boats to convey its 159 people to its ship, effectively terminating their desperate attempt to reach Europe.
The migrants expressed their displeasure over the arrest. “You think you’re going to stop us? We’re going back! We will reach Spain, or we will die,” one person added.
The operation provided a unique window into both the resolve of individuals to depart and the difficulties of limiting migration from West Africa to Europe, where African countries are under increasing pressure to safeguard borders.
Migration experts contend that because of Africa’s expanding youth population and their persistent migration from underdeveloped countries, restricting the flow of migrants is ineffective.
As per Spanish interior ministry data, since 2022, more than 30,000 migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands, approaching the all-time high of 31,678 in 2006 and more than twice as many as were reported in 2022.
According to the ministry, more than half of the people arriving on the islands this year are from Senegal or the Gambia, two coastal nations.
To reduce the number of individuals travelling across the open ocean to reach the Canary Islands, the Spanish Civil Guard and the Senegalese Navy launched a search mission.
There were fifteen women, many children, and a newborn among the passengers, most of whom were from the Gambia. The Walo’s cabin was offered as a place of shelter to the more vulnerable. Early on Friday morning, when the boat started its lengthy journey back to Senegal, the others gathered on the back deck.
According to Commander Diallo, it was their responsibility to save the passengers.
From August until now, the Walo has seized thirty boats and about 4,000 migrants. On the number of people lost at sea, however, there is less information available. Only 38 people were found alive on a Senegalese boat that had carried over 100 migrants when it was discovered drifting close to Cape Verde in August.
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