There are several profiles of people in the boats of misfortune on the way to Europe. It is not only fishermen who embark in these canoes as often noted in the media’s coverage of migration issues in Senegal. Cheikh Ndour, like many other young Senegalese, is a graduate. He studied Electronics and Mechanics at the Assafin Institute (a vocational training school in the Dakar suburbs). After his training, he left in search of a job in his field. While waiting to find one, he got into sales and delivery. He is the eldest of his family. At the age of 26, he can no longer see his parents take care of all the family expenses. In this interview with Dialogue Migration, he narrates  his three abortive attempts at irregular migration to Spain by sea.

“My first time, we left Joal to land in a Mauritanian prison”

Cheikh’s first experience in illegal migration by canoes dates back to 2019. He left Yarakh (a fishing district in the Dakar suburbs) to join the smugglers who had given him an appointment in Mbour (Thiès region) to board their canoe at night. “We embarked around 2 a.m. for Spain. I had paid 400,000 CFA. Others had paid more. There were 83 of us. Unfortunately, after three days at sea, we were spotted by the Mauritanian Coast Guard. They intercepted us and handed us over to the Mauritanian police,” he said. 

“We were thrown into prison. We spent 13 days there in inhumane conditions. We were treated like criminals. Packed like sardines, we were not allowed a toilet. We defecated on ourselves, in our cells. In addition, we were undernourished. To tell the truth, I lived the worst experience of my life in this Mauritanian prison,” he continued.

Cheikh and his companions  owed their release to an NGO that paid the Mauritanian authorities. “The Mauritanian police released us after pocketing money from an NGO and made it look like it helped us survive, which is not true. They threw us in Rosso Senegal like common criminals. We managed afterwards to go home.”

“My second trip,  nine died in the canoe before we arrived in Dahla”

After this first failure and his traumatic passage in a Mauritanian prison, Cheikh Ndour did not abandon his project to reach Europe by sea. He has quietly matured a new plan and has given himself the financial means to achieve it. A year later, he found new smugglers established in Saint-Louis (northern Senegal). Only, this second time, the elementary rules to secure the journey were trampled underfoot. The canoe was overloaded with more than double what it could hold. “In Saint-Louis, we set off with a catastrophic number of 209 people aboard the canoe. We spent 9 days at sea and it was very difficult because of this overload. After three days, people began to show signs of fatigue due to lack of sleep. Because there was no space in the canoe even for a small fee. The bad weather at sea added to this, the atmosphere deteriorated even more. After 5 days, there was no food. We then recorded the first deaths. After that there was not even drinking water in the canoe. Other people could not hold on under these conditions”, recalled our interlocutor, still affected by this episode of his life.

Cheikh continued: “To survive thirst and hunger, we had to drink water from the sea. The hardest part was when we had to throw the bodies of our comrades at sea. It’s indescribable. The rest of the group could go for hours without exchanging a single word. It’s something that impacts you all your life. These are images that we will never get rid of. We threw them into the ocean and kept their accessories in the hope of giving them to their loved ones.”

It was the Royal Moroccan Navy that pulled Cheikh and his companions after 9 days of travel during which they had to throw 9 of them into the sea. “The Moroccan Navy took us to a reception center in Dahla after rescuing us. They then contacted Senegal’s consular authorities in Morocco. Unfortunately, they did nothing to help us. We had sick and wounded among us and some who had lost their minds. For 11 days, we had to broadcast videos on social networks and the media were interested in our situation for the Senegalese authorities to react,” he laments.: “The consul general of Senegal in Dahla took buses to transport us to Rosso Senegal. Once there, we were handed over to the border police. For a good ten hours, we were interrogated without eating or drinking. We were released afterwards and left to fend for ourselves penniless,” he added.

“The third time, I didn’t think I would ever rest my feet on dry land”

In 2021, Cheikh Ndour tried a third experiment, hoping that he would finally set foot on Spanish soil. He had paid 350 000 CFA to be embarked in Joal (department of Mbour) by smugglers. “There were 92 people in this canoe, including 7 Sierra Leoneans and 24 Gambians. These foreigners had each paid 1 million. We spent 8 days at sea with catastrophic weather conditions. At one point, I didn’t think I would ever put my feet back on dry land. There were 12 deaths before the Royal Moroccan Navy found us. Again, we were transported to Dahla before we returned to Senegal a few days later,” he says.

“I have decided to give myself a chance in Senegal, I want to work with an NGO on migration”

After three failed attempts at sea, some more dramatic than the others, Cheikh Ndour gave up a fourth sea voyage to focus on his activities in Senegal. “It’s hard to see my parents getting up every day, struggling to find  day-to-day expenses. But, I still have decided not to go back this year and to give myself a chance in Senegal. Opportunities are lacking and doors are always closed to young graduates like me. Nevertheless, I   continue looking. I would like to work with an NGO in the context of illegal migration. After my three experiences in this field, I think I could do a lot to raise awareness among young people,” he says.