Thousands of people have died in recent years trying to reach Europe via the Canary Islands. Young people from Senegal are seeking more than what their country can give them – even though the nation’s economy is expected to grow, and it offers relative peace and stability compared with its West African neighbors. Three-quarters of Senegal’s 18 million residents are under age 35.
NHK World’s former Johannesburg Bureau Chief Kobayashi Yu visited Senegal to find out why so many young Senegalese try to leave.
On the surface, life looks good in the Senegalese fishing town of Saint Louis. Children run around in the vacant lot. Young workers at a fishing market are smiling and energetic.
NHK World visited while fishers enjoyed the Eid holiday period in June. Dozens of boats were lined up on the beach as people relaxed under the shade of trees.
One young fisher, 28-year-old Amadou Fall was enjoying the scene. But he revealed he has already made two disastrous attempts to flee by boat – once last year and another time in 2023.
“The income from fishing has dropped to one-twentieth of what it used to be. I can no longer support my family,” he said to explain his two ill-fated voyages he had hoped would take him to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Off the coast of Senegal, catches have plummeted in recent years, dealing a blow to fishing communities. The boat on which Amadou works has to venture far offshore neighboring Mauritania to fish.
Fishers used to earn as much as 200,000 West African CFA Francs (XOF) – about 350 US dollars – in a single day, but now they receive only 10,000 XOF (18 US dollars) for a five-day voyage.
Amadou lost his father at a young age and began working on fishing boats when he was just 15 years old. He now supports his mother, younger siblings, nieces and nephews – a total of 16 people.
He said he thinks he needs to risk his life to cross over to Europe, where he hopes he can find a good job, and earn money to send back home.
The declining catches troubling Senegal’s fishing industry are being blamed on overfishing by foreign operators.
Steve Trent, chief executive officer of the United Kingdom-based Environment Justice Foundation (EJF) points the finger at European and Chinese vessels. The EJF surveys illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities across the world.
“You have a growing number of European parliamentarians, policymakers and governments who are decrying migration, arguing against migration, without understanding that European fishing vessels, along with Chinese fishing vessels, have contributed to the overfishing, the decline of the fisheries, and hence the migration,” Trent said.
He noted that while fewer European vessels engage in improper activity these days, often-disguised Chinese fleets are moving in.
“They fly the flag of another country. There is often a complex network of front companies and false identities that almost disguise the fact that the true beneficial ownership is Chinese,” he said.
Foreign fishing vessels are accused of conducting illegal seafloor trawling, which strips away fishery resources. NHK World chartered a local fishing boat and headed offshore to observe the situation firsthand.
Several large fishing vessels flying the Chinese flag were moored near the capital, Dakar. According to locals, the boats were seized by authorities during enforcement operations.
While the Senegalese government is trying to crack down on foreign vessels’ overfishing, experts believe that authorities have barely scratched the surface of the problem.
Keeping track of movements across the vast waters is difficult, and enforcement efforts are struggling to keep pace. Furthermore, local fishers told NHK that Chinese fishing boats arrive in the middle of the night and leave at dawn, making enforcement even more challenging.
The EJF estimates that around 57 percent of Senegal’s fish stocks have either collapsed or are on their way to this.
Trent said fishers “can’t survive with half a bucket of fish a day after eight hours of fishing.”
The sharp decline in fish catches is driving many young people to take dangerous risks to seek a more prosperous life. Last year, more than 46,000 migrants, many from Senegal and other West African nations, arrived illegally in the Canary Islands.
Another 10,000 reportedly died or went missing along on the perilous 1000-kilometer Atlantic journey.
Amadou told NHK that the boat for one of his attempts to reach the Canary Islands was a simple, 10-meter fishing vessel. More than 100 passengers were crammed onboard. With no space to lay down, he tried to sleep with his head on a beam and his feet on another.
Sleep-deprived and stressed, he confessed that at one stage, he threatened another passenger with a knife, warning that if they didn’t give up their space, it would come down to a fight to the death.
Amadou said people died one by one on the voyage from severe seasickness and dehydration, and their bodies were thrown into the sea. As panic set in, he remembers one person yelling “I’ll eat you!” to a fellow passenger.
Amid strong winds and six-meter waves, the boat lost course and drifted for several days before Amadou and the other surviving passengers were rescued by Moroccan authorities.
Young people from towns and villages are not the only ones trying to get to Europe. City youths are also finding that a large urban setting does not necessarily offer more opportunities.
Mame Mbaye, 22, runs a general store in Dakar. Two years ago, he and his friends attempted the crossing to the Canary Islands on a rickety fishing boat. But like Amadou, they were rescued by Moroccan authorities after drifting for 12 days.
Mame achieved good grades in high school and considered going to university, but gave up on that dream.
“If you have a relative in a high position, you can find work. But for most, even with a master’s degree, there are no jobs,” he explained.
Mame said he dreads the thought of running a small shop for the rest of his life, and finds inspiration from social media posts about young people who emigrate to Europe and succeed. But he realizes that not everyone who takes that path finds such success.
“It is heaven or hell,” he said.
Senegalese political commentator Cheikh Ahmed Fall believes the government needs to take swift action to stem the outflow of young people.
“Someone who goes to Europe without any skills, without a job, with nothing…they could end up homeless on the streets. What’s important now is to adopt policies that reduce unemployment and create conditions for people to find decent work,” he said.
Members of Africa’s so-called “Youth Bloom,” faced with the impacts of global economic shifts, a lack of governance, and pervasive corruption and nepotism at home, are deciding to brave dangerous waters to seek more secure futures.
NHK
