By Adama Makasuba
The Families of ‘backway’ migrants whose boat capsized off Mauritania, killing over 60 migrants have called for the arrest and prosecution of the captain of the boat, as they said he is back in Barra with impunity.
On 4th December, 2019 a migrant boat carrying over one hundred migrants departed from Barra North Bank of The Gambia heading to Spain capsized off the coast of Mauritania many of whom were Gambians.
The captain that sailed the boat is reported to have returned back to Barra which has sparked outrage among the families and returnees that were onboard the capsized boat during the perilous journey to Europe.
Speaking to The Voice in an exclusive interview was Sering Bahoum who said: “We want Ousman Bahoum to be arrested or the Barra youth will take the law in our own way (hands).”
“We need justice, the victims’ families and returnees demand is that the law should take its course due to the fact that the suspect Ousman Bahoum is back in the street of Barra walking freely,” he said.
“And since he returned to Barrow, the people of Barra and we the returnees and families of other victims that died in the journey have not seen any justice done, and what pained us most is that for the past two days he has been organising programs at his residence in Barra,” Sering Bahoum added.
According to UN Agency for Migration (IOM), the boat ran out of fuel and was stranded for days when approaching Mauritania before it capsized.
The tragedy has been described as one of the deadliest incidents since the mid-2000s when Spain stepped up patrols and fewer boats attempted the journey.
Police Superintendent Lamin Njie, the spokesperson for the police could not response to the calls made through to him on this issue before the press time.
