Senegal to send mission to identify nationals among 201 migrants intercepted off Dakhla

Senegal’s consulate in Dakhla will send a mission to a migrant reception center in Bir Guindouz to identify Senegalese nationals among 201 migrants intercepted off Morocco’s southern coast, the consulate said Monday.

The center is located about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Dakhla.

According to Senegal’s state-run Senegalese Press Agency, Consul General Babou Sene said the mission would also provide Senegalese nationals with hygiene supplies, SIM cards and phone credit as part of government assistance.

At least 18 Senegalese nationals, including two women and a child, were among the migrants intercepted Saturday by the Royal Moroccan Navy about 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Dakhla, Sene said.

The migrants were traveling by traditional fishing boat, known as a pirogue, toward Spain’s Canary Islands when they were intercepted.

The Royal Navy brought the group safely to the fishing village of Roc-Chico, where they received medical treatment before being handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie for administrative procedures.

Sene said about 251 Senegalese nationals are currently staying at the Bir Guindouz and Argoub reception centers and are awaiting voluntary return to Senegal.

He said the migrants would be repatriated by land once Mauritania grants the necessary authorization for them to transit through its territory.

Meanwhile, Senegal’s consulate in Dakhla and its embassy in Rabat are coordinating with Moroccan authorities and the International Organization for Migration on the possibility of arranging an airlift to return the migrants to Senegal.

The latest interception comes amid continued attempts by migrants from West Africa to reach the Canary Islands by sea. The Atlantic migration route is one of the main irregular migration routes to Spain and has seen repeated departures from the coasts of Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal.