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Dozens of migrants are feared lifeless after a ship that left Senegal with greater than 100 individuals onboard over a month in the past was rescued by the coast guard in Cape Verde with simply 38 survivors onboard, officers stated.
The boat was rescued by the coast guard in Cape Verde, about 385 miles off the coast of West Africa, on Tuesday after departing Senegal on July 10, a spokesperson for the United Nations Worldwide Group of Migration instructed NBC Information. At the very least seven individuals have been discovered lifeless, whereas 38 survivors have been positioned, together with a number of youngsters, the spokesperson, Safa Msehli, stated.
Round 101 individuals have been believed to be onboard the boat when it departed Senegal and the roughly 56 individuals nonetheless unaccounted for are presumed to have died, Msehli stated.
The circumstances that the boat and its survivors have been present in are nonetheless unclear, Msehli stated. She stated survivors have been nonetheless recovering after being on the boat for over a month.
She additionally stated it was not but clear the place precisely the boat was headed, although family members of those that have been on the boat stated the vessel was headed for Spain, The Related Press reported.
The route from West Africa to Spain is among the most harmful journeys on the planet and Msehli famous that the journey will be lengthy and unpredictable.
“It is not unusual for boats to get stranded on this route,” she stated.
The vessel was a big fishing boat, referred to as a pirogue, the AP reported, citing the Spanish migration advocacy group Strolling Borders.
Almost 1,000 migrants died whereas making an attempt to achieve Spain by sea within the first six months of 2023, the AP reported, citing information from Strolling Borders.
That individuals proceed to danger the route “indicators the despair that individuals are feeling and the hopelessness for them to embark on these actually harmful journeys,” Msehli stated.
Msehli famous that plenty of elements, together with excessive poverty, the impacts of local weather change, battle and violence push migrants and asylum seekers to make the perilous journey.
“Senegal has been in political disaster — ignored in our information — for months. Lethal violence, web shutdowns and repression,” impartial migration coverage skilled Zoe Gardner stated in a post on X, the social media platform previously often called Twitter.
“There is no such thing as a protected manner for the victims to flee and construct the protected futures they’ve each proper to hope for,” Gardner wrote.
In latest months, Senegal was rocked by lethal clashes between safety forces and protesters after demonstrations erupted following the conviction of distinguished opposition occasion chief Ousmane Sonko.
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