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Friday, 29 May 2026
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Migration·Human Rights

Senegalese children left behind as parents die seeking new lives in Europe

Thursday, 7 May 2026, 16:35 · 1 min read

In Senegal, hundreds of children are grappling with grief, poverty, and silence after their parents died attempting to reach Europe by sea — a crisis that claimed at least 10,457 lives on the Atlantic route to Spain in 2024 alone, the highest toll on record. Many of these children, known as "those who remain," are forced to drop out of school to earn money, while a cultural taboo around discussing their parents' decisions to leave deepens their trauma. A programme launched in 2024 by the Diocesan Delegation of Migration (DDM), a church-linked NGO based in Mbour (a port city on Senegal's Atlantic coast), is providing psychosocial support to around 50 such children, with therapists working to break the silence and create a safe space where young survivors can speak openly about their loss without fear or stigma.

Sources
AfricanewsSenegalese children's quiet mourning when migrant parents disappear ↗︎
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