At least 143 refugees and migrants are dead or missing from a boat off Mauritania after 25 days adrift, the UNHCR said, with survivors describing a harrowing journey that underscores the peril of transatlantic migration routes.
A boat carrying refugees and migrants from Africa drifted for 25 days before arriving at a port in Mauritania, where at least 143 people were dead or missing, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). The vessel, which set off from Bafuloto in The Gambia, was rescued on July 18 after a journey that saw 38 survivors and numerous bodies reach the port of Nouadhibou, the UNHCR reported.
A 25-Day Ordeal and Survivors’ Accounts
The UNHCR said the boat had been adrift for 25 days before being rescued. The agency said it was “extremely saddened” by the deaths. Among the 38 survivors was a group of two children who had lost all their family members during the trip, according to Matt Saltmarsh, a UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva. Among the survivors of… that ship were two children who have lost all their family members during the journey, and they are recovering in hospital,
Saltmarsh said.
Mauritania’s coastguard put the number missing at 122, saying the boat ran out of fuel after leaving The Gambia with 160 people on board. The UNHCR called the route to the Canary Islands one of the world’s deadliest,
citing long distances and overcrowded, unseaworthy boats.
International Response and Migration Challenges
The UNHCR urged more access to education and jobs to offer alternatives to the crossings. Mauritania is a major departure point on the Atlantic route, where tens of thousands attempt to reach the Canary Islands, part of Spain, each year. Arrivals have fallen sharply under a European Union-funded crackdown, in which Mauritanian authorities have deported thousands of asylum seekers and migrants and pushed departures to longer, deadlier journeys from further down the coast,
the agency said.
The incident highlights the ongoing crisis for refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Atlantic. The agency said the deaths came despite three rescue operations off Mauritania between July 14 and 18 that pulled 387 people to safety from other stranded boats. The route to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest,
the UNHCR emphasized.
What’s Next for Migrants and Regional Cooperation
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