The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has stated that at least 143 refugees and migrants are missing or presumed dead after a boat bound for Europe sank off the coast of Mauritania. According to the agency, the boat departed from the Bafuloto area in The Gambia carrying 160 people; however, only 38 survivors were rescued off the coast of Nouadhibou on July 18, following a 25-day ordeal at sea. The survivors witnessed the deaths of some of their fellow travelers during the journey.
UNHCR spokesperson Matt Saltmarsh stated that the survivors included individuals who had lost their entire families during the voyage. The agency also reported a separate incident in which a person died on another boat rescued off the coast of Mauritania on July 14.
Mauritanian authorities reported that the boat ran out of fuel while in the Atlantic Ocean, leaving it adrift for days without food, water, or assistance, resulting in a high death toll among those on board. The UNHCR identifies the Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands as one of the deadliest smuggling routes in the world, characterized by vast ocean distances, unseaworthy boats, overcrowding, and extremely harsh weather conditions.
In recent years, Mauritania has become a key transit point for thousands of African migrants attempting to reach European cities. Despite European Union funding for border security operations in Mauritania, the smuggling trade continues to involve highly dangerous journeys.
This tragedy particularly affects Somalis, as many young people from Somalia undertake perilous smuggling journeys through the Horn of Africa, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and other parts of West Africa, hoping to reach Europe. Along the way, they often endure hunger, thirst, torture, kidnapping, extortion, rape, enslavement, and murder at the hands of smuggling networks or security forces tasked with preventing irregular migration.
In recent years, there have been frequent reports of Somalis facing disaster in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Sahara Desert, while others have simply vanished without a trace. Many Somali families remain in limbo, awaiting news of relatives who left the country and from whom nothing has been heard since.
