Lack of prospects in Senegal: The dying fishing village of Fass Boye

In Senegal there is little prospect of a good future for young people. There is hardly any work and the Europeans are overfishing the fishing grounds off the coast. What remains is the dangerous route across the Atlantic.

Fisherman Abdoul Aziz Séne sits on the white sandy beach of Fass Boye and looks at the foaming waves. The sea is rough today. All around him lie – almost side by side – the colorful pirogues in the sand, the fishing boats. White, blue, red, yellow. Actually idyllic, but not for Fischer Séne. The view of the boats and the sea brings dark memories.

“They tried to come to Europe – even my son. There was a pirogue, 70 people died on it. Like my son, he was 25 years old. He’s dead.”

hope for a better life

Abdoul Aziz Séne speaks of July 2023. At that time, more than 100 people set off from Fass Boye in a boat at night. They want to reach the Canary Islands – a good 1,500 kilometers from Fass Boye – via one of the deadliest migration routes in the world, the North Atlantic route.

Actually, such a crossing takes just under a week. But the young men never arrive; many of them starve and die of thirst on the high seas. When the relatives still received no sign of life after a week, they alerted non-governmental organizations and authorities. Later, a Spanish fishing boat rescues the survivors.

Séne says he didn’t know his son wanted to leave. But he can’t blame the young people: “There are a lot of problems here. For the fishermen, but also for those who try to grow vegetables. You can grow a lot of vegetables, but you don’t sell anything. As a fisherman, you go out and find things no fish.”

Overfishing by Europe

Séne cites the European boats that have contracts with Senegal as the reason. “They come and then there is nothing here anymore,” explains the fisherman. Senegal forces young people to go to Europe to earn money and support their families.

Many people here say that President Macky Sall sold the ocean. What this means is that the government has issued too many licenses to foreign fishing companies that are now overfishing the waters. This is visible here, says fisherman Séne, as he walks through the market in front of the beach, where fish is processed and packaged.

“Look here,” he says, pointing to small gray fish. They wouldn’t have caught these fish in the past – but today they have to in order to feed themselves.

The law of the strongest

Despite the many deaths from Fass Boye, around 15 young men are sitting under a tarpaulin on the beach. Everyone wants to try their luck in the Canary Islands, they don’t fear death. Amary Dleye, who is around 50 years old, also sat down. His generation was the first to set off in pirogues towards the Canary Islands.

After decades in Spain, he returned to his homeland in old age, says Dleye. He won’t forbid his children from going: “Here in Senegal the law of the strongest rules. If you have money, you are the king. That’s why we have the problem with migration. If you have a problem here, you won’t find any help. As soon as But when you set foot on European soil, the first thing they do is look for a lawyer and a doctor.”

“You have to make sacrifices for it”

There are many reasons for leaving Fass Boye, the young men say. There are hardly any economic prospects; running water has not been available for a good three years due to the failure of two water treatment plants.

Many are angry. After it became known that more than 60 of their friends and acquaintances had died during the crossing, the boys stormed a government building in Fass Boye and smashed windows, doors and furniture. To date, no official has returned there.

Mamou Ba is the president of the youth association in Fass Boye. He says the youth here are trying to draw attention to themselves. “A young person in Fass Boye feels a bit forgotten – especially by the state. There is so much that is missing here. You don’t have a job – but you have a family that needs to eat and drink. So you have to make sacrifices for that. “

More and more people North Atlantic route

According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, almost 40,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands via the North Atlantic route in 2023 – an increase of more than 150 percent compared to the previous year. The majority of those arriving were people from Senegal, from villages like Fass Boye.

The high number of deaths here – tragedy after tragedy – no longer deters anyone. In Fass Boye, many young people wait on the beach and look at the rough sea. They are waiting for summer, when the sea becomes calmer and departure at night becomes less dangerous.