President of Senegal Macky Sall has issued an order for emergency action to stop the increasing number of migrants who are using canoes to travel to Europe.
In a statement released following the Council of Ministers, Mr. Sall requested that the government “take emergency security, economic, financial, and social measures to neutralize the departure of emigrants from the national territory.”
The communiqué mentions the government’s July presentation of a national strategy to combat irregular migration and states that the effort will involve the Interior, Armed Forces, Youth, and Fisheries Ministers.
Senegal, a West African country under President Sall’s leadership, is seeing a surge in sea departures bound for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago and gateway to Europe.
Several times per week, the press reports on pirogue arrivals in the Canaries, interceptions or rescues in the Atlantic, off the coast of Senegal, or in waters approaching the Canaries.
This dangerous migration has led to a series of tragedies.
Since the beginning of the week, the press has again been reporting the disappearance of a considerable number of migrants from Bargny, on the coast east of Dakar.
It has been unable to obtain confirmation of these disappearances from the authorities.
The migration issue has become a theme in the ongoing campaign for the February 2024 presidential election.
Prime Minister Amadou Ba is the presidential camp’s candidate to succeed Mr Sall.
The Canary Islands have seen a record number of migrant arrivals since 2006, with 30,705 people arriving between 1st January and 31st October, more than double (+111%) the figure for the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
Two-thirds are from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the European coastguard and border guard agency Frontex.
Senegalese, along with Moroccans, are the most numerous new arrivals, according to Frontex and several Spanish NGOs.
