Since the beginning of 2024, the number of boats departing from Mauritanian and Senegalese coasts along the western mediterranean migration route (Gambia-Senegal-Mauritania-Morocco) has continued to increase compared to the same period in 2023, according to figures from the Office of the Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Central and Western Mediterranea in August 2024. It was also noted in September that numerous migrant bodies were washed ashore on the coasts between Senegal and Mauritania, particularly on September 8 and 22, 2024, in M'Bour and Dakar (Senegal)[1]. These growing numbers highlight that, despite the strategies and policies implemented by the countries along the western mediterranean migration route, smuggling and trafficking networks continue to attract irregular migrants and remain active in organizing these perilous journeys, which endanger not only the lives of many people but also the security and integrity of transit and destination countries.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Regional Office for West and Central Africa, responded positively to a request from Mauritanian authorities to facilitate a study visit to also share best practices with Senegal to combat these two forms of transnational organized crime: human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. This visit was conducted as part of the PROMIS project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and jointly implemented by UNODC and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Thus, from September 21 to 28, 2024, a delegation composed of members of the Mauritanian National Agency for Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (INLTPTM), including its director-general and senior officials from the Ministry of Justice, including the Director of Cooperation, visited Dakar. The delegation members met with their counterparts to better promote and strengthen sub-regional cooperation as advocated by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention) and its additional protocols.
| The Mauritanian delegation and UNODC received in audience by the Ministry of Justice of Senegal |
During the meeting with the delegation on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, Mr. Ousmane DIAGNE, Senegal's Minister of Justice, praised the UNODC’s initiative to facilitate contact between Mauritania and Senegal on sensitive and current issues such as human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The Minister of Justice reiterated that “the fight against irregular migration has become one of the Senegalese government's most important priorities”.During the meeting with the delegation on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, Mr. Ousmane DIAGNE, Senegal's Minister of Justice, praised the UNODC’s initiative to facilitate contact between Mauritania and Senegal on sensitive and current issues such as human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The Minister of Justice reiterated that “the fight against irregular migration has become one of the Senegalese government's most important priorities”.
This study and exchange visit was an opportunity for the Mauritanian delegation to meet with other state and non-state actors involved in combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling. These include the National Committee for the Fight against Human Trafficking and Victim Protection (CNLTP), the Interministerial Committee for the Fight against Irregular Migration, the Directorate of Criminal Affairs and Pardons (DACJ) of the Ministry of Justice, the National Division for the Fight against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (DNLTP), attached to the Directorate of Air and Border Police (DPAF), the National Navy Headquarters, the Environmental Section of the National Gendarmerie, the General Directorate of Support for Senegalese Abroad, the NGO Otra Africa, etc. A guided tour of the Port of Dakar also allowed the mission to gain insight on the operational framework set up by the operational coordination framework (CCO) of the Navy and the maritime unit of the Gendarmerie to intercept migrant boats and thus prevent loss of lives.
The UNODC Regional Representative, Dr. Amado Philip de Andrés, welcomed "the field meetings and commitments between the two coastal countries where UNODC has a strong presence, which will strengthen the work of our teams with government bodies and civil society in Mauritania and Senegal to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling."
To further strengthen cooperation in the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling between the two countries, a Joint Declaration was signed at the end of the visit between the CNLTP, the Senegalese Interministerial Committee on Irregular Migration (CILMI), and the INLTPTM of Mauritania.
Considering that the signing of this declaration of intent is the precursor to future joint actions between the two countries, Mauritania and Senegal have agreed to continue their exchanges to materialize their commitment to jointly combat the human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks operating in West Africa and beyond.
[1] On September 8, 2024, in M'Bour, 39 bodies were recovered, and on September 22, 2024, in Dakar, 30 bodies were found, without accounting for the numerous missing individuals, as a single boat can sometimes carry nearly 100 people.
