{"id":92098,"date":"2025-12-16T08:44:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T08:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns"},"modified":"2025-12-16T09:05:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T09:05:35","slug":"our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns","title":{"rendered":"Our Coast has Become a Graveyard Activist Warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Atlantic Ocean off The Gambia\u2019s coastline is claiming increasing numbers of lives as the country emerges as a major departure point for irregular migrants heading to Spain\u2019s Canary Islands, raising fears of a growing humanitarian crisis, an activist revealed.<\/b><\/p>\n

Migrant situation reporter and activist Ebrima Drammeh<\/b> warned that the scale and speed of recent departures mark a dangerous turning point, describing the situation as an organised smuggling operation driven by desperation and weak coastal surveillance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are seeing now is not migration. It is a business of suffering,\u201d Drammeh told the Voice Newspaper. \u201cOur coast has become a graveyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said tighter naval patrols in Morocco and increased enforcement along Senegal\u2019s coastline have pushed smuggling networks further south, making The Gambia\u2019s short coastline and limited monitoring capacity an easy target.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen routes close elsewhere, smugglers simply relocate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Drammeh cited figures covering the period between 1 November and 11 December<\/b>, during which thousands reportedly left Gambian shores. He reported dozens of deaths involving women and children, while a boat that departed Jinack on 17 November<\/b> remains missing.<\/p>\n

Several vessels were intercepted by authorities in The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco, while others reportedly reached Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not statistics,\u201d Drammeh said. \u201cThey are fathers who never came home, daughters who never called again, mothers who vanished at sea.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, smugglers now charge up to D70,000<\/b> per person, packing as many as 200 migrants<\/b> into a single wooden canoe, often promising a journey of less than a week.<\/p>\n

Survivors and activists, however, report extreme hunger, dehydration and exposure on what remains one of the world\u2019s deadliest migration routes.<\/p>\n

Drammeh called on authorities to urgently strengthen coastal surveillance, dismantle smuggling networks and intensify community awareness campaigns, while urging young people to abandon the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour life is worth more than any visa,\u201d he said. \u201cNo smuggler will risk his life for yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Atlantic Ocean off The Gambia\u2019s coastline is claiming increasing numbers of lives as the country emerges as a major departure point for irregular migrants heading to Spain\u2019s Canary Islands, raising fears of a growing humanitarian crisis, an activist revealed. Migrant situation reporter and activist Ebrima Drammeh warned that the scale and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-92098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nOur Coast has Become a Graveyard Activist Warns - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Atlantic Ocean off The Gambia\u2019s coastline is claiming increasing numbers of lives as the country emerges as a maj ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Coast has Become a Graveyard Activist Warns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Atlantic Ocean off The Gambia\u2019s coastline is claiming increasing numbers of lives as the country emerges as a maj ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T08:44:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T09:05:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765863225.060713.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Our Coast has Become a Graveyard Activist Warns\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T08:44:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T09:05:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\"},\"wordCount\":336,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765863225.060713.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/our-coast-has-become-a-graveyard-activist-warns\",\"name\":\"Our Coast has Become a Graveyard Activist Warns - 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