“Smugglers and traffickers charged them for a dangerous journey on boats that were not fit for the sea,” Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration, said in a statement.
The death toll from the capsize of a migrant boat off the coast of Senegal rose to 39 on Monday after emergency services recovered more bodies.
The vessel overturned on Sunday offshore from Kébémer, north of the capital Dakar, after departing from Saint-Louis in northern Senegal. The boat carried passengers headed to the Spanish coast along a well-travelled Atlantic migration route. Rescuers found only one passenger alive following the disaster.
Senegal’s Ministry of the Interior initially reported at least 21 deaths on Sunday and mobilized teams to search for survivors. The interior ministry did not specify how many people were on board the wooden canoe.
Search operations continued into Monday as emergency services recovered more bodies from the water. Four bodies were recovered on Monday morning in an advanced state of decomposition and buried following a collective funeral prayer organized by the fire service. Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told the AFP news agency that all bodies recovered by Sunday evening were Senegalese.
Action for Human Rights and Friendship called on the Senegalese government to launch a parliamentary inquiry following the sinking. The human rights group denounced a lack of lasting results in reducing migrant deaths at sea despite previously announced funding for the navy and training agents.
“It is no longer enough to deplore shipwrecks, announce measures and count interceptions,” the association said.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences to victims’ families and vowed to clamp down on trafficking networks.
“No one should set out with the sea as their only horizon. We will relentlessly continue the fight against those who organize these crossings and the work that gives our young people reasons to hope here,” President Faye said in a statement posted on X.
The Atlantic migration route from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands remains one of the deadliest routes in the world. The Spanish rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the route in the first five months of 2026. For every 100 migrants that made it to the Canary Islands in that period, around 21 died.
Earlier coverage: At Least 21 Dead After Migrant Boat Wrecks off Sénégal Coast
