Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Wednesday vowed to “relentlessly track down” migrant traffickers a day after news that at least 35 people had drowned off West Africa.
Faye, elected in March, called on the country’s young people to stay in Senegal rather than falling for the “illusion” of a better future elsewhere.
He added that the government was working non-stop on policies to tackle youth unemployment in the country.
Of the migrant traffickers blamed for the disaster, he said: “From now on, the relentless hunt for these illusion-peddlers, these pedlars of death, will be stepped up.”
A hotline will be set up to which people can report the activities of such traffickers, he added.
Senegal press reports say at least 35 people died when their overloaded boat sank shortly after leaving the fishing port of Mbour on the Senegalese coast. Many others have been reported missing.
Senegal’s coasts are one of the main departure points for thousands of migrants heading to Europe, many heading for the Spanish Canary Islands, which lie off the west coast of Africa.
But the Atlantic route is particularly perilous due to the strong currents, and every year, officials record thousands of deaths and disappearances from overloaded, often unseaworthy boats.
More than 22,000 migrants have already landed in Spain’s Canary Islands so far this year, more than twice the number from the previous year.
During a three-day West African tour at the end of August, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez signed agreements with Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania to promote legal migration.
The accords establish a framework for regular entry into Spain based on labour needs.