89 Migrants Found Dead off Coast of Mauritania

Facts

• Mauritania's state media reported on Thursday that the country's coast guard had recovered the bodies of at least 89 migrants bound for Europe off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean.¹
• This comes as a traditional fishing boat with 170 people on board, which departed from the Senegal-Gambia border last week, capsized on Monday off Mauritania's southwest coast.²
• The coast guard further rescued nine survivors, including a five-year-old girl, meaning that 72 migrants were still officially missing as of Thursday.³
• Meanwhile, a local fishing association in the southwestern town of Ndiago reported on Friday that the death toll stood at 105 people.⁴
• Mauritania is a key hub for West African migrants bound for Europe, with thousands of boats setting sail from the country last year — most heading for Spain's Canary Islands.²
• Earlier this year, the EU pledged $229M in financial support for Mauritania to curb migration and provide humanitarian aid for migrants. According to a Spanish charity, more than 5K people died trying to reach Spain by sea from January to May this year.⁵

Sources: ¹CNN, ²BBC News, ³Guardian, ⁴Reuters and ⁵Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by UN News. Thousands of migrants are dying at sea as they journey to Europe, and the international community must work together to prevent continued tragedies. Migrants from Africa and the Middle East often embark on dangerous journeys across rough seas in ill-equipped boats that are prone to capsizing. European countries must create a strategy that will patrol their shores and rescue migrants who are in danger.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Independent. The establishment focuses at every opportunity on migrants drowning at sea, yet it never addresses the causes of migration and the effects it has on Europe. In the form of atrocious propaganda, leaders will pay lip service and virtue signal about caring for migrants. However, they disregard their culpability in destabilizing regions and incentivizing mass migration. Though tragic, these stories only divert public attention from the core problems driving mass migration.

Predictions