Sub-Saharan Migrants Intercepted at Sea in Daring Bid for Europe

Thursday 14 December 2023 - 08:00

By: Dakir Madiha

Sub-Saharan Migrants Intercepted at Sea in Daring Bid for Europe

In a daring bid for a better future, thirty-three men and women from sub-Saharan Africa risked their lives in a harrowing high-seas journey, only to be intercepted off the coast of Western Sahara in a dramatic maritime rescue.

Sailing for Europe, Where Dreams Lie

This group embarked on their perilous journey from Mauritania last Sunday, tightly packed aboard a weathered wooden pirogue vessel bound for the Canary Islands, as reported by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Their quixotic quest for opportunity and prosperity in Europe compelled them to brave the open ocean in a craft hardly fit for such a challenging passage.

Rescued From the Deep

On Wednesday, the Royal Moroccan Navy’s coast guard spotted the overloaded boat, carrying 33 passengers, struggling through the swells approximately 10 kilometers from the port city of Dakhla. Navy sailors promptly moved in, rescuing the migrants from their foundering pirogue and transferring them to the safety of a naval patrol ship, where they received much-needed medical care.

The Dashed Hopes of Irregular Migration

Moroccan authorities, thwarting their aspirations of irregular migration, transferred the group to a migrant reception center in Dakhla. Like many sub-Saharans desperate to escape poverty, they had risked everything for the slim hope of crossing to the Canary Islands and finding a gateway to opportunity in Europe. For these 33 souls rescued from the sea, the dream remains deferred.