DAKAR: Senegal has intercepted more than 250 “irregular migrants” in two days, the army said on Saturday, after nearly 90 died when attempting the dangerous Atlantic crossing earlier this month.

The West African country’s navy detained a boat on Friday carrying 202 people trying to reach Europe in fishing waters near Lompoul, northwest Senegal, the army posted on X. Five women and a child were among those hoping to make the perilous journey, the post added.

On Saturday, the army said a navy patrol had arrested 57 “would-be irregular migrants” in the northwest coastal town of Saint Louis.

Fifteen women were among the group, made up of Senegalese, Ivorian, Malian and Gambian citizens, the army added, also on X.

In early July, a boat carrying around 170 people who set off from Senegal capsized off the coast of Mauritania, killing nearly 90 people.

The disaster prompted Senegal’s President Ousmane Sonko to urge people not to risk the Atlantic Ocean’s currents in overcrowded vessels that often are not seaworthy. But the route is increasingly used as authorities step up surveillance in the Mediterranean.

“I once again make a plea to the young: your solution is not to be found in boats,” Sonko told a crowd of youths in Saint-Louis.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2024