Disaster on the Cape Verdean Boat: “My Brother Died for a Dream we all have”

They were attempting to reach Spain, according to the brother of a guy who perished after a boat carrying dozens of migrants was discovered off Cape Verde.

On the boat, which was at sea for more than a month, it is estimated that more than 60 people perished. Almost all were Senegalese.

“Everyone is in disbelief. Regarding his brother Cheikhouna, Mamour Ba said, “He was one of the foundations of our family.

However, the 27-year-old claimed that despite it being hard to make a life in Senegal, he would nonetheless attempt the journey alone.

Student Mr. Ba, 27, hails from Fass Boye, a little fishing village midway between Dakar, the capital, and St. Louis, a historic settlement.

On the wooden pirogue-style boat with 101 passengers on board that departed from Fass Boye for Europe on July 10, three of his brothers and one of his cousins were present.

They intended to reach Spain. They indicated that they wanted to leave, and I was powerless to stop them because they had already made up their minds.

Until he received a call from Cape Verde on Wednesday following their rescue, he believed they had all passed away.

They were among the 38 survivors, including children, who were seen being brought ashore on the island of Sal, some of them on stretchers. There may be more than 60 additional persons at sea.

The archipelago is located around 600 kilometers (372 miles) off the coast of West Africa and is a major migratory route to the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory that many people view as a gateway to the EU.

Because they were too disoriented to explain what happened, Mr. Ba claims he still does not know the specifics of his relatives’ five-week journey: “They didn’t have the strength to explain what happened; they just said: ‘We’re alive. They had a very feeble tone.

However, as the talk went on, he learned that some of them had perished.

“One of the doctor’s phones was used by one of my brothers, Ibrahima, to call me from Cape Verde.

“He said that Cheikhouna, our other brother, was lost at sea. I felt stunned. He was a tremendous fighter, and we were really close. He had two children and was married.

He held my hands and murmured, “Brother, I have to go,” on the day he left.

He was both my friend and my brother.

But the endeavor fell short.

This was Cheikhouna’s second attempt to travel by boat to Europe. He had left again three days after we returned, Mr. Ba added.

He had a family and there was nothing for us here in Senegal, so he was determined to go.

“We’re fishermen, and despite working all day, we have no income. He merely desired a better life for himself and his family.

Mr. Ba is aware that trying to board a different boat to travel to Europe is perilous, but the decision is financial.

“I don’t have enough money to fly. To travel to Spain, it is preferable to pay 300,000 or 400,000 CFA ($480 or £375) as opposed to trying to travel there for millions of CFA.

He claims that he has no fear of drowning.

Others have traveled this route and drowned, but it hasn’t deterred me. I’m willing to take the chance. I would take a boat even if it were available today.