315 migrants rescued off Mauritania, coastguard says

Mauritania’s coastguard said on August 21 that it rescued 315 migrants, including 40 children, from a wooden boat drifting off the country’s Atlantic coast.

The migrants were picked up during the night of Wednesday to Thursday off the fishing port of Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s economic capital. The coastguard said they were in a difficult humanitarian situation.

The wooden pirogue-style boat had set off from The Gambia and was carrying 191 people from Senegal, 123 from The Gambia and one from Mali, the coastguard said. It said the group included men, women and minors, including infants.

A coastguard official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the vessel had been drifting when it was rescued. The official said everyone on board was rescued and given necessary care under legal and humanitarian procedures.

The rescue came days after Mauritanian coastguards rescued 42 migrants, including women and children, from another drifting boat after it had engine trouble.

The UN refugee agency said last month that 144 people died or were reported missing at sea from a boat that left The Gambia with around 190 people on board. That boat was rescued on July 18 after drifting for nearly 25 days. Doctors Without Borders said it was “one of the deadliest landings” its teams had witnessed in Mauritania since the beginning of 2026.

Thousands of mostly young people have attempted the Atlantic route to Europe via Spain’s Canary Islands, often in overloaded or dilapidated boats. The recent tightening of maritime controls in Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco has pushed departure points farther south, extending the time spent at sea.

Mauritania signed a partnership deal with the European Union in 2024 as part of EU efforts to move border controls outside the bloc. The 210-million-euro package included funds for border surveillance, increased sea rescue capabilities, action against smuggling networks and development projects.