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.”
Banned from Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will hold a rival international song contest on Saturday, with an emphasis on “traditional values”.
Instead of camp, think conservative – patriotic pop with a PG-rating.
“Intervision” was launched under the order of Vladimir Putin, with the hope it would serve as an expression of Moscow’s international pulling power.
Intervision decorations in Red Square, Moscow, ahead of the contest
There are contestants from 23 countries, which are a mixture of Russia’s allies old and new, including Belarus, Cuba and Tajikistan as well as China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The odd one out is the United States, who’ll be represented by an artist called “Vassy”. She’s not part of an official delegation, but an American voice is still a coup for the Kremlin, which will seek to use this contest as proof of the West’s failure to isolate Russia on the global stage.
‘War whitewash’
Intervision is not entirely new. It was originally launched in the 1960s as an instrument of Soviet soft power, before largely fading from view in the 1980s.
According to Moscow, its revival has nothing to do with politics. But Ukraine has condemned it as propaganda, and an attempt to whitewash Russia’s war.
It was a point I put to some contestants after their final press conferences, but it didn’t go down well.
“We don’t think like that, we are here to spread peace,” India’s Rauhan Malik told me, when I asked if his participation was a show of support for Russia’s invasion.
Malik, one of the contestants
“Are you not turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggression?” I countered.
“I have no idea about it,” he said. “I have no idea about the current situation that’s happening. I don’t want to speak about that as well.”
Eurovision legends Abba would almost certainly not make the Russian contest guest list. Pic: AP
Really? He had no idea? But before I could go on, I felt a forceful hand on my shoulder and a minder stepped in.
The intervention was even quicker when it came to speaking to Brazil’s act. As soon as I mentioned the word Ukraine, I was drowned out by shouts of “no, no, no, no” and the duo were ushered away.
Brazilian contestants, duo Luciano Calazans and Thais Nader
Where’s the glitter?
Intervision is not just a reaction to Russia’s recent exclusion from Eurosivion, however, it’s also a reaction to the contest’s values and what it’s come to represent.
Its celebration of sexual diversity and LGBTQ+ rights are seen as a symbol of what the Kremlin calls the West’s moral decline. In contrast, Intervision organisers say their contest will promote “traditional, family values.”
Judging by the costumes on show ahead of last week’s draw, that translates to less glitter, more embroidery, with a thematic emphasis on national heritage.
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So what do Russians think of Intervision’s resurrection? Can it replace Eurovision?
“We don’t miss Eurovision,” Galina and Tatiana say, underneath a collection of purple and pink ‘Intervision’ flags near Red Square.
“It was so horrible, especially lately. We didn’t like watching it at all.”
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Why are countries boycotting Eurovision?
Polina agrees, believing Russia’s version will be “more interesting”.
“Many countries that participated in Eurovision want to boycott it, so it’s interesting to see a more peaceful event now,” she says.
Igor is more circumspect. “I’d like to believe that this isn’t a political event,” he says, “but rather an event that unites nations and people.”
Intervision will succeed in uniting some nations. But at the same time, it may only deepen divisions with others – further evidence that Russia and the West are singing very different tunes.
Donald Trump will introduce a new $100,000 application fee for foreign worker visas.
A White House official said the US President is preparing to sign a proclamation today that will require a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visa, which covers highly-skilled foreign workers.
The charge is part of a broader immigration crackdown.
H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified Americans and other permanent residents.
The programme has drawn criticism for becoming a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for wages lower than those typically paid to US technology workers. Critics also argue that companies use H-1B visas to overlook Americans for jobs.
First lady Melania Trump, the former Melania Knauss, was granted an H1-B work visa in October 1996 to work as a model. She was born in Slovenia.
What is a H-1B visa?
The H-1B programme has been crucial for technology and staffing companies who rely on foreign workers.
Historically, these visas – 85,000 per year – have been doled out through a lottery system.
Donald Trump will introduce the charge as part of an immigration crackdown
India, the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounted for 71% of approved beneficiaries.
China was second with 11.7%, according to government data.
Shares of IT services company, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, fell by over 5% on Friday.
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