By Yunus S Saliu
It was nightlong news when footage of a capsized boat in Nouadibbou, Mauritania carrying Gambians ‘backway’ migrants on their way to Spain went viral on social media in the evening of Wednesday, 4th December, 2019. It was unbelievable when the news was received because the point of departure was more or less like a secret and unknown point to many people especially some intended and would be migrants in the Kombo, thinking desert still the ultimate route to go ‘backway’ journey.
Narrating the incident from day of departure to the end is Mamoud Faal native of Barra who is one of the survivors and member of the December 4th 2019 (D4.19) Association of Survivors and Victim Families.
According to him, the capsized boat that he was one of the 195 passengers onboard was the fourth boat to go on the ‘backway’ journey from The Gambia in late November 2019. Their point of departure was in the middle of the sea around Fort Bullen area in-between Barra and Jinack Island.
In a cramped boat with suffering and smiling, the 195 passengers began with happiness but ended with sorrow after spending 8 nights and 7 days sailing they found themselves in the Spanish Zone without knowing until they left back to Africa soil to got capsized while some ended in grave, the few alive back to native home in The Gambia for retreat.
He narrated “Happily, we started our journey on Wednesday to load food, water, fuel and necessary things in the boat and departed about midnight of Friday, 27th November, 2019. We sailed till we entered Spanish territory (Spain) on Monday morning but we didn’t know that we were in Spain, though through the atmosphere and condition experienced we knew we were in a different place. Everyone was feeling cold while vapor was puffing out from our mouths and noses.”
Their experienced of been in new place didn’t last when a boat emerged from a distance sailing towards them, while the inexperienced sailor of the ‘backway’ boat accelerated in high speed with the thought of been pursued by the Moroccan’s navy.
“We were in Spanish territory for three hours (from 7am to 10am), our Sailor who was in defiant mood to berth accelerated the engine when he saw a boat coming towards us he said they are Moroccans coming to arrest us because if they are Spanish navy they will come with helicopter and I said it is a lie but he didn’t berth,” he explained.
Out of Spain territory, they continued their unknown journey from that moment until sunrise on Tuesday morning when they virtually ran out of everything – food, water, and fuel especially when they now realized that they have totally lost way to Spain that was when Mamoud Faal discovered that the sun did not rise from the normal side like in begin of the journey.
“It was on Wednesday, 4th December, 2019, morning, a sorrowful day that I will never forget in life we all decided to berth come whatever might be because there was not enough fuel to continue with the journey. To straightening the record, the wrong circulated footage and story by social media, first our boat didn’t capsized on motion and there was no one present at the time to take any footage or photograph because when it happened we all drown with our mobile phones and nobody remember mobile phone less of taking photograph and footage. All circulated footages were fake and not from the scene,” Faal disclosed in his narration.
He continued “when we finally decided to berth we saw two fishermen boats and we approached them and asked where we are and they said this is Nouadibbou in Mauritania. We told them that we are on our way to Spain but lost in sea but we want to berth. They agreed to direct us. So when we want to berth the boat we threw down the anchor and as we did the boat swerved and capsized and we all went down the water (sea) while the boat covered us.”
Reported by some media
Point of correction the boat didn’t hit the rock or anything to capsized, as we were about to berth we saw two small fishing boats in Nouadibou and we asked them where are we they said we are in Nouadibou while we told them that we were on our way to Spain but lost and we told them that we wanted to park the boat and they agreed to direct us and instead of right direction they gave us wrong direction berth the boat. And we shouldn’t have taking down the boat anchor but they told us to bring it down and as we did so the boat just turned and wave added to it while everyone went down the sea while the boat was on us.
Everyone started struggling to come out people that saved is not because they are swimmers but they are saved because it is not time to die because there were good and perfect swimmers in the boat that all died. And we were 195 passengers –migrants in the boat 13 women 11 missing 2 survived, 83 men left with 2 women totaling 85 meaning we lost 110 in the Mediterranean sea but 58 bodies were found and second day 6 bodies were found.
When the boat capsized we all tried to help each one another that needed help because there was nothing like health worker or volunteer to help no video man was there and the pictures that were circulating about the capsized boat was all fake because not even a single picture was taken there because all phone got wet or dropped inside the ocean.
We took out 31 dead bodies and after able to bring out 31 dead bodies it is then we know that is now a perilous journey and we headed towards the desert were we met Mauritanians who had told us to stop because the area were was full of landmine and if we mistakenly step on it we might all died while they now called the authority for us. I took them back to the scene of the incident and among us went back there with them and solders to bring out more dead bodies from the sea … we left 31 on sand there and we came back to bring out twenty-seven again to make it 58 dead bodies and I asked them where they are taking the bodies and they said to the hospital where they will clean them up and call our government and probably evacuate them to The Gambia.
After couple of hours everything changed, they said they talked to the government and they will be taken to the desert about fifteen kilometers outskirt of Nouadibou where they were mass buried. And the 58 bodies are not Gambians because among them were Senegalese, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, but The Gambia has the largest number especially youth from Niumi and Barra, North Bank Region this is a large community.
Those of us alive were taken to the camp IOM helped us a lot by giving us everything that we needed at that moment such as food, water, clothes, and toiletries. But funny part is that our Gambians authority (ambassador) was just there only to talk to us and go back, Senegalese authority come they talk to their people and give them some money at least for any emergency need we were in the camp for three days.
We came back/left in December 7 to the Gambia.. when we woke up on this day our ambassador and his official came to see us enter the bus without no food or water embark on the journey back to the Gambia. It was another terrible journey for us as we left from Nouadibbou to Nouakchott driving non-stop without allowing any to go down to urinate or whatever and from Nouakchott to the border where we arrived at 3am where we boarded a ferry called Rosor to Senegal. It was very terrible inside this ferry as yu will see us begging for food because we were starved. Some of us sold bags, blanket, clothes, shoes among other items given to us by IOM to buy food and water to eat and drink inside the ferry.
When we got to the Gambia border we heard some media personnel saying we wanted to fight but nobody wanted to fight anyone we were only telling them not to welcome us because we were treated badly by our own authority right from Nouadibou as they cannot giving us common water to drink talk less of food. However, we later calm down while doctors did a check up on us and gave us medicines while we were given D1350 each which they said is from IOM.
We would like to thank IOM for been the only organization that took good care of us right from Nouadibou and when we reach Gambia. We really want to register our dissatisfaction with the Government of The Gambia over the way they neglected us since this ugly incident occurred till date. We saw fire outbreak in Basse and they were donating thousands, millions without even know if we are living or surviving.
We are saying that government is neglecting its own youth that are leaders of tomorrow. Why are they treating their people like this President when just in a meeting and have a minute silence finish.
The captain didn’t know the road himself and he was scared to be captured by other nationalities without having right to enter into their territory since we were not having visa to enter those country we passed. It was on Thursday in Nouadibou that we realized that we were in that night because Interpol from Laspamas came and shown us the picture of the boat that we were on their territory on Monday between 7-10am in the morning and you were in high speed we were following you at the right and I told him I saw you from sunrise coming with a vessel the confirmed that I was right it was not Moroccans. The captain was from Senegal.
The boat took over from around Fort Bullen between Barra and Jinack Island where it was packed and small canoe was used to convey us there to board it. All the agents involved in the journey are out of the country because the police are on investigation.
Life before the journey was okay for us but not worse because many people sold belongings because like me I was having a safari taxi I sold it and paid D35000 in November to arrange and paid for the journey and since then to date I become jobless, women having salon sold it, family land sold, and other family properties to embark on the journey.
If our government still neglect us without do anything for the youth especially youth of Niumi, Barra through training and skills center to help us learn, if not we are going again. The EU too should concentrate on the youths in Africa including Gambia because we are having our relatives living there that are telling us and how they are living there even if they don’t have work life is better there because the social looks after them give them places to live and provide money for them which they survive on so we will never stand back or give up. If nothing happen and they didn’t concentrate on us to help us to help ourselves we are going back….
Two years she did not survive she died with the mother on the back of mother none of us were up to fourty years all the girls are less than twenty-five years.
We failed the failure was great and we were all happy ours should have been the fourth boats to enter because the route started since November 27 because every Friday one will move and we should have succeeded like others but the boat disorganized because the boat was overloaded, there was no captain, enough fuel, no food and water as they all got finished no good GPS and this is why we failed had it been we have a bold and brave captain he will stop in Spain zone when we were been pursued.
Though the business cannot stopped because the money involved is huge and people in the involved many people too Germany is the target we all need support now. The children left behind by the parents need education.
We are stigmatise though we still keep the faith, because if you don’t failure, backway semester and so on.
Mamoud Faal I am a December 4th survival we started the journey 27th November Wednesday in the middle of the night and Saturday morning we were in the seas for 8 night and 7 days. We started the journey Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning we entered Spain but we didn’t know that we were in Spain but we knew we were in a different place because of the climate and condition of the environment. Everyone was feeling cold and saying look smoke is coming from my mouth and nose. Later we saw a boat coming towards us but we thought it was the Moroccans that were coming with the boat we told the captain to stop the engine but he said it is the Moroccans.
I asked him myself that how did you know that it is the Moroccans or Spaniards coming he answered if it is the Spaniards coming they will come with helicopter and I said it is a lie because navy walk on the ground if they see anything then they will call the helicopter. So they refused and we were in the zone from 7am to 10 am and they we were out of their zone and they left us and from then on we were just going until Tuesday morning. While I was washing my face I saw the sun rising from another side then I challenged the captain about what I noticed that why is the sun rising from this side instead the previous side that we were treading before and since the sun is rising from the other side which mean we are lost in the ocean.
And as that day, Tuesday, everything with us was virtually finished – food, water even fuel and we were running all day and night since began of the journey till we all realized that we were lost. So Wednesday morning we all decided to berth the boat because there was not enough fuel to continue with the journey.
Point of correction the boat didn’t hit the rock or anything to capsized, as we were about to berth we saw two small fishing boats in Nouadibou and we asked them where are we they said we are in Nouadibou while we told them that we were on our way to Spain but lost and we told them that we wanted to park the boat and they agreed to direct us and instead of right direction they gave us wrong direction berth the boat. And we shouldn’t have taking down the boat anchor but they told us to bring it down and as we did so the boat just turned and wave added to it while everyone went down the sea while the boat was on us.
Everyone started struggling to come out people that saved is not because they are swimmers but they are saved because it is not time to die because there were good and perfect swimmers in the boat that all died. And we were 195 passengers –migrants in the boat 13 women 11 missing 2 survived, 83 men left with 2 women totaling 85 meaning we lost 110 in the Mediterranean sea but 58 bodies were found and second day 6 bodies were found.
When the boat capsized we all tried to help each one another that needed help because there was nothing like health worker or volunteer to help no video man was there and the pictures that were circulating about the capsized boat was all fake because not even a single picture was taken there because all phone got wet or dropped inside the ocean.
We took out 31 dead bodies and after able to bring out 31 dead bodies it is then we know that is now a perilous journey and we headed towards the desert were we met Mauritanians who had told us to stop because the area were was full of landmine and if we mistakenly step on it we might all died while they now called the authority for us.
I took them back to the scene of the incident and among us went back there with them and solders to bring out more dead bodies from the sea … we left 31 on sand there and we came back to bring out twenty-seven again to make it 58 dead bodies and I asked them where they are taking the bodies and they said to the hospital where they will clean them up and call our government and probably evacuate them to The Gambia.
After couple of hours everything changed, they said they talked to the government and they will be taken to the desert about fifteen kilometers outskirt of Nouadibou where they were mass buried. And the 58 bodies are not Gambians because among them were Senegalese, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, but The Gambia has the largest number especially youth from Niumi and Barra, North Bank Region this is a large community.
Those of us alive were taken to the camp IOM helped us a lot by giving us everything that we needed at that moment such as food, water, clothes, and toiletries. But funny part is that our Gambians authority (ambassador) was just there only to talk to us and go back, Senegalese authority come they talk to their people and give them some money at least for any emergency need we were in the camp for three days.
We came back/left in December 7 to the Gambia.. when we woke up on this day our ambassador and his official came to see us enter the bus without no food or water embark on the journey back to the Gambia. It was another terrible journey for us as we left from Nouadibbou to Nouakchott driving non-stop without allowing any to go down to urinate or whatever and from Nouakchott to the border where we arrived at 3am where we boarded a ferry called Rosor to Senegal. It was very terrible inside this ferry as yu will see us begging for food because we were starved. Some of us sold bags, blanket, clothes, shoes among other items given to us by IOM to buy food and water to eat and drink inside the ferry.
When we got to the Gambia border we heard some media personnel saying we wanted to fight but nobody wanted to fight anyone we were only telling them not to welcome us because we were treated badly by our own authority right from Nouadibou as they cannot giving us common water to drink talk less of food. However, we later calm down while doctors did a check up on us and gave us medicines while we were given D1350 each which they said is from IOM.
We would like to thank IOM for been the only organization that took good care of us right from Nouadibou and when we reach Gambia. We really want to register our dissatisfaction with the Government of The Gambia over the way they neglected us since this ugly incident occurred till date. We saw fire outbreak in Basse and they were donating thousands, millions without even know if we are living or surviving.
We are saying that government is neglecting its own youth that are leaders of tomorrow. Why are they treating their people like this President when just in a meeting and have a minute silence finish.
The captain didn’t know the road himself and he was scared to be captured by other nationalities without having right to enter into their territory since we were not having visa to enter those country we passed. It was on Thursday in Nouadibou that we realized that we were in that night because Interpol from Laspamas came and shown us the picture of the boat that we were on their territory on Monday between 7-10am in the morning and you were in high speed we were following you at the right and I told him I saw you from sunrise coming with a vessel the confirmed that I was right it was not Moroccans. The captain was from Senegal.
The boat took over from around Fort Bullen between Barra and Jinack Island where it was packed and small canoe was used to convey us there to board it. All the agents involved in the journey are out of the country because the police are on investigation.
Life before the journey was okay for us but not worse because many people sold belongings because like me I was having a safari taxi I sold it and paid D35000 in November to arrange and paid for the journey and since then to date I become jobless, women having salon sold it, family land sold, and other family properties to embark on the journey.
If our government still neglect us without do anything for the youth especially youth of Niumi, Barra through training and skills center to help us learn, if not we are going again.
The EU too should concentrate on the youths in Africa including Gambia because we are having our relatives living there that are telling us and how they are living there even if they don’t have work life is better there because the social looks after them give them places to live and provide money for them which they survive on so we will never stand back or give up. If nothing happen and they didn’t concentrate on us to help us to help ourselves we are going back….
Two years she did not survive she died with the mother on the back of mother none of us were up to fourty years all the girls are less than twenty-five years.
We failed the failure was great and we were all happy ours should have been the fourth boats to enter because the route started since November 27 because every Friday one will move and we should have succeeded like others but the boat disorganized because the boat was overloaded, there was no captain, enough fuel, no food and water as they all got finished no good GPS and this is why we failed had it been we have a bold and brave captain he will stop in Spain zone when we were been pursued.
Though the business cannot stopped because the money involved is huge and people in the involved many people too Germany is the target we all need support now. The children left behind by the parents need education.
We are stigmatise though we still keep the faith, because if you don’t failure, backway semester and so on.