A boat carrying over 190 migrants, including at least 45 women and children, which set sail from Niumi Jinack on November 17, 2025, is believed to have sunk at sea with no survivors, as reported by migrant rights activist “Ebrima Migrant.”
In a statement released on his official Facebook page on Wednesday, Ebrima asserted that authorities and monitoring networks are “100 percent certain the boat has sunk and that no one survived.”
He clarified that the vessel was not intercepted or observed along established migration routes, emphasizing that it did not arrive in Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Cape Verde, or Spain.
Ebrima cautioned that the tragedy is not an isolated incident, referencing similar occurrences involving migrant boats that set sail from Kartong in October 2024 and October 2025. “This is not the first time things like this have happened in Gambia,” he said.
Efforts are currently underway to locate another migrant boat that is believed to have departed from Niumi Jinack on December 5, 2025, with hundreds of individuals on board. Ebrima advised Gambians, especially those living in coastal communities, to avoid embarking on the perilous journey.
“Please, people of Jinack and Gambia, this is not the right time for this journey. The weather conditions are very bad, and it’s very cold in the sea at the moment. Don’t risk your life because the agents are just business; they want to get rich,” he said.
The incident highlights the ongoing risks associated with irregular migration, especially along the Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands, which continues to be one of the most perilous migration corridors globally.
