Aminata Boye helps families of Senegal's missing migrants

Aminata Boye, a 48-year-old Senegalese woman whose son disappeared while trying to migrate by sea, has become a leading support figure for families in Mbour who have lost relatives on the Atlantic route to Europe.

Boye founded the Collective of Victims of Irregular Migration in Senegal in 2020, the year her 19-year-old son Waly went missing after boarding a boat that was later spotted in distress off Mauritania. The association supports more than 100 women whose children or husbands died or disappeared while migrating.

In the Tefees neighbourhood of Mbour, on Senegal's coast, roughly one in three households has had a member die or disappear because of migration, mostly young people. Boye makes regular visits to bereaved families there, where relatives describe years of loss and uncertainty.

Anna Diop, 43, said she lost two sons, two nephews and two brothers in 2024 after a canoe carrying 34 passengers was found adrift with everyone on board dead. Another Mbour resident, Ndeye Ndiaye, said Boye helped her after her daughter Awa died in Morocco in 2024 following a pirogue wreck.

Boye also works with groups including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the nonprofit Alarm Phone, and travels abroad to search for missing migrants. Her group organises collections and sewing workshops to help women earn income.

Boye said Senegal should do more to raise awareness among young people and offer them prospects at home. She also criticised restrictive European visa policies and border closures, which she said are part of the reason young people take dangerous sea routes.