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Senegalese soldiers escort returned migrants at Dakar military airport: arrivals in visibly poor condition
Photo: SEYLLOU / AFP
The route across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands has become a new, dangerous escape route for migrants from West Africa. Now Senegal has begun a repatriation operation with Morocco. Almost 480 people from Senegal, who had been apprehended in Morocco in recent weeks, are to return to their homeland. The first 50 have now been flown out.
The refugees landed at a military airport in Dakar last night. They had been brought back by plane for medical reasons, said the Minister for Senegalese Abroad, Annette Seck Ndiaye, who received the migrants at the airport.
The remaining almost 430 migrants were to be brought back home by bus from Morocco in the coming days. Some of the arrivals were visibly in poor condition, walking on crutches or supporting each other.
Raising awareness of the dangers of migration
The Senegalese government plans to present a new strategy today, Thursday, to prevent illegal migration, which has been increasing sharply on the route to the Canary Islands for several weeks. Senegalese President Macky Sall had called on the government to strengthen controls and make young people aware of the dangers.
In the case of attempted crossings to the Canary Islands, which lie off the Moroccan coast, but belong to Spain, there had been several serious accidents in recent weeks. In mid-July, 13 Senegalese drowned off the Moroccan coast while traveling in a traditional wooden boat. At least 30 people drowned off the Senegalese coast in July in two boat accidents near Dakar and Saint-Louis. The Moroccan navy reported that it had rescued 900 illegal migrants from distress at sea in recent days.
mrc/AFP