Senegalese families mourning deaths of hundreds of young men trying to reach Europe
In a half-built home off the busy beaches of the fishing town Mbour, relatives and neighbours gather to grieve without a body to bury.
A young woman walks in and greets each of us with a handshake and curtsy.
She turns to kneel at the feet of the man sitting in the centre room and suddenly, her posture collapses as she breaks into deep sobs. She was set to marry his youngest son, Mohamed.
Mohamed was one of at least 50 people who recently died attempting the dangerous Atlantic route from Senegal to the Canary Islands.
Their half-sunken boat was found 60 miles south of the Canary Island El Hierro on 29 April – none of their bodies were found in or around the wreckage.
Oumar’s son Mohamed died trying to reach Europe
“It was announced that there were only nine survivors in the Spanish hospital. When the survivors became conscious and they were asked – we knew Mohamed had died,” says his father Oumar.
“I had decided to seal his marriage. That is why his fiancee was sobbing when she arrived – her hope was shattered.”
Three of Mohamed’s older brothers are currently in Spain, struggling to live without residency permits. Oumar says two of them left from Senegal and one from Mauritania to the Canary Islands by boat over the last three years.
Mohamed had three brothers already in Spain
The Spanish non-profit organisation Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) says more than 6,600 migrants died on the Atlantic route last year as a record 55,618 migrants arrived in Spain by boat with most of them landing in the Canary Islands, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
Despite the risks, the route is gaining popularity as the land journey to the Mediterranean Sea through North Africa has become increasingly militarised, with Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania in bilateral agreements with the European Union (EU) to stop migration.
In January, 7,270 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands – around the same number of arrivals there were in the first six months of last year.
Caminando Fronteras describes the Atlantic route as the deadliest and busiest migrant passage in the world.
Oumar is pained by the loss, but not shocked that Mohamed left to join his brothers. Life in fishing towns across Senegal has become unbearable.
“When I was younger and deep-sea fishing, I didn’t face the problems we have now of industrial fishing boats and the big nets that they use.
“All of this has destroyed the sea. It is happening right now and here in our area and our sons are aware that there are no resources,” says Oumar.
“This is the reason our sons are taking boats and leaving.”
The fishing town Mbour, Senegal
Illegal and unregulated fishing by large Chinese trawlers and Senegal’s long-standing EU fisheries partnership are at the heart of discontent around the depletion of fish stocks and the devastation of artisanal fishing communities.
Under the current agreement, the EU pays the Senegalese state €2.6m (£2.2m) a year to allow 45 European vessels from Spain and France to fish 10,000 tonnes of tuna and 1,750 tonnes of hake. That is the equivalent of 0.005 euros per tonne of fish.
“The issues with the fishing agreement, which started in the 1970s, is that almost all the areas that it applies to are exploited.
“These fishing agreements are not able to develop in a way to protect the fisheries – a renegotiation in a true way that can benefit these countries should be done,” says Dr Aliou Ba, senior ocean campaign manager for Greenpeace Africa.
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Senegal’s new president Bassirou Diomaye Faye has declared he will review fishing deals and licences signed with its partners that include the European Union to guarantee they are structured to benefit the fishing sector.
“This is a very good statement. There have been years of calls for the audit of the Senegalese industrial fleet. He also requested a renegotiation of this fishing agreement,” says Dr Ba.
“It can be a real, fair fishing agreement. This can be a precedent of African countries defending the interest of communities, of the people.”
But an alternate ecosystem of smugglers and young men eager to follow family and friends to Europe may have already been cemented.
A fisherman turned smuggler speaks to Sky News
On a beach an hour away from the government buildings of Dakar, a fisherman turned smuggler tells us around 200 people in the area died trying to get to the Canary Islands, but demand is higher than ever.
“In Senegal at this moment, we have no time to think too much because we have done so much thinking and don’t have solutions. The only thing we see is to go to Europe.”
World
Indonesia and Thailand mark 20 years since devastating Boxing Day tsunami which killed 230,000 across a dozen countries
Indonesia and Thailand are marking 20 years since a tsunami caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.
People started gathering in prayer today and visiting mass graves in Aceh, one of the worst-hit areas by the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami which saw an estimated 230,000 people killed across a dozen countries.
The tsunami was triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the west coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia, at 7.59am local time on 26 December 2004.
Indonesia was the country with highest number of deaths, but India, Sri Lanka and Thailand were also badly hit.
People remember the victims of the tsunami in Indonesia’s Aceh
Many wept openly at the mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, where more than 14,000 unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried. It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province.
Footage showed people visiting a mass grave in Siron to remember the victims of an event that shocked the world.
People gather to mark the anniversary in Thailand
In Thailand, people gathered in Phang Nga province to honour the victims and those affected.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the disaster, Sky News has spoken to people who survived the tsunami, one of whom lost his brother to the huge waves while they holidayed together in Thailand.
In Aceh, the tsunami reached 167ft (51m) high, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and caused flooding up to three miles (5km) inland.
The infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is now more resilient than 20 years ago.
Early warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of potential tsunamis, providing crucial time to seek safety.
A coast guard ship that was carried about 5km inland to the city centre of Banda Aceh during the tsunami. Pic: Reuters
The rebuilding efforts were made possible by the support of international donors and organisations, who contributed significant funds to help the region recover.
Schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure that were destroyed by the disaster have been reconstructed with enhanced strength and durability, ensuring better preparedness for future challenges.
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Various communities in Aceh commemorate the tsunami yearly along with the government and local authorities.
In Banda Aceh, art communities in early December spread disaster awareness through theatrical or musical performances that can be easier for people to follow and target all groups, including those born after the tsunami.
World
Undersea power cable suffers outage as Baltic Sea countries on edge over series of disruptions
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Russia’s Christmas Day bombardment of Ukraine, saying the hail of missiles and drones was “bloody and brutal”.
The prime minister lamented that there was “no respite even at Christmas” for Ukrainians, who spent the morning sheltering in metro stations as bombs rained down on their cities.
Russia’s defence ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” on energy facilities that it claimed supported Kyiv’s military.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also condemned the attack, saying Russia was seeking to plunge his people into darkness.
“Putin deliberately chose Christmas,” he said on Wednesday. “What could be more inhumane?”
In the east, Kremlin forces claim to have captured the settlement of Vidrodzhennia as they continue to make territorial gains.
People take shelter at a metro station during an air raid alert in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
‘Christmas gift to Ukraine’
Regions across the country reported missile and drone strikes as Ukrainians spend another holiday season facing attacks on their power infrastructure.
Kyiv’s military said it downed 59 Russian missiles and 54 drones, but others made it through their air defences.
Strikes in Kharkiv wounded six people and left half a million in the region without heating, as temperatures hovered just a few degrees above zero.
Firefighters work in the wreckage of homes in Kharkiv. Pic: Reuters
“Kharkiv is under massive missile fire. A series of explosions rang out in the city and there are still ballistic missiles flying in the direction of the city. Stay in safe places,” Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
In the capital, residents faced blackouts while in Dnipro region one person was killed.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysa said the Russian army is trying to destroy the region’s power system.
Sophia Square, Kyiv, on Christmas Eve. Pic: Reuters
Ukrainians, marking their second Christmas since changing to celebrate on the same day as the West, sheltered in underground metro stations as the deadly salvo of missiles soared towards them.
“Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones,” US ambassador Bridget Brink said. “For the third holiday season, Russia weaponises winter.”
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A military chaplain conducts a Christmas Eve mass for soldiers on the front line. Pic: Reuters/72nd Mechanised Brigade
Four dead in Kursk region
In the east, Ukrainian soldiers celebrated Christmas by candlelight as they ate together near the frontline.
Fighting continues to be tough in Donbas, as Russian forces push forward and make steady gains.
On Wednesday, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken the settlement of Vidrodzhennia.
Soldiers eat by candlelight on Christmas Eve near the front line. Pic: Reuters/33rd Separate Mechanised Brigade
Across the border, in Russia’s Kursk region, four people were killed and five injured in the town of Lgov after Ukrainian shelling, the region’s acting governor said.
“A five-storey residential building, two single-storey residential buildings and a single-storey beauty salon were seriously damaged,” Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.
Pope calls for peace talks
In the Vatican, Pope Francis mentioned the war in Ukraine directly during his Christmas Day message, calling for “the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation”.
Speaking to thousands of people from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, he said: “May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine!”
He also called for “gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace”.
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