(16 Nov 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dakar, Senegal – 15 November 2024
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Close of Senegalese navy commander Assane Seye
2. Mid of Seye and sailors aboard the Niani, looking at map showing vessels picked up by ships radar
3. Close of computer showing Dakar and surrounding waters
4. Close of sailor taking notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dakar, Senegal – 16 November 2024
++DAY SHOTS++
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Assane Seye, commander:
“In 2024, since January 1, 2024, the navy has saved 4,780 people, who had left on 33 pirogues (small boats).”
6. Various of Oumar Ndiaye, a lieutenant in the Senegalese navy, looking at sea at sunrise ++NIGHT SHOTS++
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Oumar Ndiaye, lieutenant:
“It’s a humanitarian mission. There were a large number of people on this pirogue in really difficult conditions, who had already spent two or three days at sea.”
8. Various of sailors preparing to board rafts used to reach small pirogues from the Niani
9. Mid of sailors looking at Niani from raft
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Assane Seye, commander:
“When we are talking about illegal immigration on pirogues, we’re talking about something really important. These are pirogues that have a minimum of 70 people on them. So automatically, their lives are in danger. A pirogue is not built to transport these numbers. All that has to happen is a weather change, or one wrong move taken by the captain, for the pirogue to turn over and for people to be in danger.”
11. Wide of Niani as seen from raft
12. Mid of Assane Seye guiding the Niani back into refuelling station in Dakar
13. Close of sailor holding walkie talkie
14. Mid of two sailors looking on as Niani enters refuelling station
STORYLINE:
As the sun rose off the coast of Senegal Saturday morning, Assane Seye, a commander in the Senegalese navy, scanned the horizon.
He is the captain of the Niani, an offshore patrol vessel tasked with patrolling Senegal’s waters in search of boats carrying migrants.
He is looking for a pirogue – a type of small wooden fishing boat commonly used in Senegal – that may be carrying migrants.
The boat was spotted on the Niani’s radar, and he says the number of people on board will tell him whether it’s a fishing boat or one headed for Europe.
The boat only had five people on it. “This is the first indication this boat is not implicated in illegal immigration,” he said.
Boats of the same size headed for Spain’s Canary Islands, the preferred immigration route from West Africa this year, usually carry dozens or hundreds of people.
“Since January 1, 2024, the navy has saved 4,780 people, who had left on 33 pirogues,” he said.
Oumar Ndiaye, a lieutenant, added that a month ago they intercepted a pirogue with more than 200 people on board.
Intercepting boats full of migrants is “a humanitarian mission,” he said. “There were a large number of people on this pirogue in really difficult conditions, who had already spent two or three days at sea.”
The Mediterranean was once the main route migrants from West Africa took to Europe.
But after the EU funneled money into Libya and Tunisia aiming to curb migration from those countries, where many West African migrants depart from after the treacherous journey across the Sahara desert, migrations across the Mediterranean have decreased sharply.
With nowhere else to turn, the Canary Islands have become the preferred landing point for West African migrants dreaming of a better life in Europe.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world.
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