‘Those who remain’: the children mourning in silence when migrant parents disappear | AFP

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:03][music] [music] [music] >> Sokhna's father did leave home, but he never made it to Spain.

[00:00:38]He's been missing since 2022 when his pirogue boat caught fire off the coast of Senegal. [music] His family still lives in the port city of M'bour, but his 11-year-old daughter no longer goes near the ocean.

[00:01:17]>> [music] >> Since her father disappeared, Sokhna has struggled to keep up at school.

[00:01:22]Her grief even haunts her dreams.

[00:01:47]>> [music] >> Sokhna's older brother, Boubacar, who's 14, is also haunted by the ghost of their missing father.

[00:02:31]To help with the precarious family situation, Boubacar often works in a metal and carpentry workshop after school.

[00:02:39]>> [music] >> There are thousands of children like Sockna and Boubacar mourning parents who disappeared at sea.

[00:03:04]They're known as those who remain.

[00:03:07]To help them, a pioneering support program was launched in 2024.

[00:03:11]The main challenge is to break the silence and even denial [music] that surrounds these losses.

[00:03:34]In [music] this safe space, the children can talk to one another, but outside, opening up remains complicated.

[00:03:41]The choice their parents made to leave is still taboo in Senegal.

[00:03:45]The authorities clamp down on migration, stopping pirogues from setting off, or forcing them back if they're already at sea, whether or not [music] they want to return.