With brand-new patrol vessels, the Senegalese navy is scouring the Atlantic Ocean for "pirogues" carrying migrants bound for the Canary Islands—the archipelago serving as a springboard to Europe.
The EU has given hundreds of millions to West African countries like Mauritania and Senegal to stop migrants.
This collaborative approach to stopping migrants appears to be working: the Spanish claim that 41 percent fewer migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands.
Moreover, the Senegalese navy considers "rescuing" migrants a humanitarian duty; thousands of migrants die every year on this perilous route.
But how do Senegalese fishermen view the navy's efforts? Will this approach actually ensure they stay in Senegal from now on?
For my latest report in de Volkskrant, photographer Carmen Yasmine Abd Ali and I traveled aboard the patrol vessel Cayor to the Senegalese fishing village of Thiaroye-Sur-Mer.
The story is in the newspaper today: https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2025/senegal-migratie-europa-patrouille~v1793933/
