Lompoul shipwreck: one million CFA francs promised to each family
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Senego
The Senegalese government has offered its condolences after a pirogue capsized at Lompoul, near Louga, killing 39 people. Family Minister Marie Angélique Mame Selbé Diouf visited the site and urged young people to give up irregular migration, stressing that graduates also take to the sea, according to Senego.
The Senegalese government will pay one million CFA francs to each of the families bereaved by the Lompoul shipwreck, off Louga, which killed 39 people. The Minister for the Family, Social Action and Solidarity, Marie Angélique Mame Selbé Diouf, announced the payment during a visit to the site, where she conveyed the authorities' condolences.
The minister urged young people to give up irregular migration. "Travelling does not mean succeeding. Many left behind here what should have been their real financial success," she said. According to her, those hoping to leave are not only unemployed or poor people: "graduates, people who were doing quite well, also take to the sea".
She warned against the videos that some migrants post after their arrival, which can give the impression of a successful adventure. "Even getting there does not mean having a job or finding enough to send to one’s family. For many, what they manage to earn is used only to feed and house themselves," she explained. She also called on residents to report smugglers so that they are severely punished.
This visit follows that of the Interior Minister to the families, on the same day. The government is targeting the smugglers after this toll of 39 dead.
