"On May 5, my big brother Saliou called me. I asked him where he was, he wouldn't tell me. I found it strange. Three days later, still no sign of him. That's when I got really worried, and I got the news: Saliou had got into a pirogue in Bargny, the same evening of our exchange, with my two other brothers Souleymane and Mamoudou.

Saliou had been saying for two years that he wanted to leave and go to Europe. He talked about it to my mother. Every time, she would tell him not to do it. She told him that if he had money problems, we could help him, our family. She even suggested that we open a shop together. Saliou didn’t want to.

Despite strong economic growth, Senegal is struggling to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality. Driven by a lack of prospects, thousands of young people are trying to reach Europe. "Spain… We all want to go there. If a pirogue leaves, I’ll jump in right away,” Abdou, a Senegalese man in his twenties, told AFP in 2023.

'Financially, it was tough'

Saliou grew peanuts in our village of Saré Demba Mary, and he sold them. The rest of his crops, corn for example, he kept for his family. He has a wife and three children.

My three brothers were farmers, and financially, it was tough. With the children, the house… But since they didn’t have much money, we always thought they wouldn’t be able to pay for the crossing. I learned shortly after their disappearance that Saliou had been able to borrow 350,000 CFA francs [around 535 euros] from a friend to take to the sea. Despite this, none of the three ever told me that they would get into a pirogue.

We would never have given them that money to cross the ocean, and they knew it. We know that it’s not normal to take a pirogue from Senegal to go to the Canaries. And going to Europe doesn’t change your life. Many Senegalese have taken this route, and their situation there is not very good. Daily life remains difficult.

Since the beginning of 2024, nearly 22,500 migrants have landed in the Canaries after crossing the Atlantic. The Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras estimates that more than 5,000 have died in the first five months of 2024 while trying to reach the archipelago.

'I thought I recognized them in a photo'

A month ago, I had hope. I thought I recognized two of my brothers in a press agency photo published on InfoMigrants. The caption said that these people had set sail with 170 passengers, and that they had arrived in Gran Canaria on May 13. It fit with my brothers' departure, even if physically, it was not very clear.

I showed the photo to the whole family, everyone told me: 'It's them!' But I still have no news. Maybe they arrived in Spain, maybe not. Who knows?

For my parents who are getting old, for me, it is really complicated. I am the only one in the family who has passed the baccalaureate, who has studied at university. So everyone counts on me to look for information. I hope I will find them one day.