Mauritania’s coast guard rescues 227 migrants stranded at sea

On November 15th, Mauritania’s coast guards revealed that they had conducted a rescue operation of 227 migrants who were stranded at sea in the country’s northwest. The sub-Saharan migrants arrived in an inflatable boat from Gambia before reaching Mauritania’s shores, according to Anadolu Agency.

One of the patrols of the Mauritanian coast guard intercepted the inflatable boat and said that it rescued the migrants, after they had been on a devastating journey at sea. The passengers of the boat included women and children, and they were all extremely exhausted from thirst and hunger after their 10-day journey in the ocean.

The statement of Mauritania’s coast guard also revealed that the rescued people were mostly from West Africa and that they were from multiple nationalities. 135 of the 227 migrants were from Gambia and 73 from Guinea, while the rest of the passengers were from Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

The migrant’s rescuers said that they were taken to the port of Nouadhibou in northwest Mauritania, where they received food and medical treatment shortly after they arrived there. A Senegalese man died after he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mauritania has become a transit country for African migrants who are trying to reach the borders of European nations. Nouadhibou has turned into a hub for migrants due to its northern location, making it the closest point to Europe in the country and to the European islands of the coast of Africa.

Europe has tried to curb migration from these transit countries, as it has signed multiple deals on migration to finance the border control of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya in a bid to reduce both local and foreign migrants from crossing the Mediterranean.

Mauritania has also signed agreements on migration with  Spain and the European Union, and held discussions on the subject with Spain’s Canary Islands. The immigration deals have been highly controversial in Europe, and criticism has been directed at the inhumane treatment of migrants in the country who face death, torture, human rights abuses and systemic violence.

Human Rights Watch unveiled that Mauritania’s human rights abuses increased after the EU outsourced migration control to the country. The organisation’s report also accused the EU of complicity after it didn’t ensure the human rights safeguards in the agreements.

In recent months, Mauritanian authorities have intensified patrols, and they have intercepted several boats in the nation’s territorial waters with migrants on board, who were headed towards European countries.

Mauritania’s neighbouring country, Mali, is facing a terrible security crisis caused by the jihadist fuel blockade, which has plunged the country into an unprecedented position. Malian refugees are crossing the border to Mauritania and the Ivory Coast amidst jihadist blockades on their towns, and to flee the violence and unrest.

Mauritania is the largest host country of Malian refugees, with over 150,000 people living in the southern region of Hodh El Chargi. Global humanitarian aid cuts have also deeply affected international organisations’ ability to support the refugees in Mauritania. A situation which might be exacerbated as more Malians decide to cross the border.

Mali’s standoff between the military junta and the jihadist groups could lead to more human rights abuses in Mauritania, as more Malians and refugees risk their lives in hopes of finding stability and good economic opportunities elsewhere.

Anadolu Agency, Maghrebi.org