“I always think about my father when I see the sea”: The hidden grief of Senegal’s migrant families

Series : The Root Causes of Migration 

In Senegal, many families are struggling after relatives disappeared or died while trying to reach Europe by sea. In the coastal city of Mbour, migration is both common and taboo, which makes grief even more difficult for children and families left behind. Many do not know exactly what happened to their loved ones and receive very little information after the journeys end in tragedy.

A Senegalese child looking at the sea (CC picture from Pexels)

Fallou and his younger brother Bara lost their mother, Awa, after the pirogue she took capsized off the coast of Morocco while she was trying to reach the Canary Islands in 2024. After her death, their family separated: their father returned to live with his own family, while the boys stayed with their grandmother. Because of poverty, Bara was later sent to live with his godfather. Fallou rarely talks about his mother and says he accepted her death as “God’s will.”

Other children also continue to suffer from the disappearance of a parent. Sokhna, whose father Assane reportedly died after a pirogue caught fire in 2022, often has nightmares in which she calls out for him. She says, “I always think about my father when I see the sea,” showing how deeply the loss still affects her. Her brother Boubacar remembers the moment the family learned about their father’s death and explains that he now works in a metalworking shop after school to help his mother financially. Their younger sister Coumba is still told that her father is “on a trip.”

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants project, 1215 people died on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands in 2024. The NGO Caminando Fronteras estimated the total number of deaths on routes to Spain to be much higher, around 10000 that year. Although Spain and Senegal increased cooperation to reduce migration crossings, many people still attempt the journey because of unemployment, poverty, political instability, and lack of opportunities.

Some organizations are trying to help the families left behind. In Mbour, the Diocesan Delegation of Migration created a psychosocial support program for widows and children of missing migrants. Children attend therapy sessions where they are encouraged to speak about their emotions, while mothers participate in sewing workshops to earn money. Psychologists involved in the project explain that talking openly about loss helps children accept what happened and reduces the shame surrounding migration and disappearance.

The full report can be found here : 

https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/71276/those-who-remain-families-of-migrants-mourn-their-disappearance-in-senegal