The navy stopped four boats carrying a total of 554 migrants between May 7 and Wednesday in territorial waters off the capital Dakar and the north-western city of Saint-Louis, according to posts on X, formerly Twitter.

Those on board were from Senegal or the surrounding region, with at least one of the boats having left from neighbouring The Gambia, the navy said.

Senegal's navy intercepted 269 migrants between the beginning of December and the end of April, after a peak of a thousand in November alone, according to figures published by the force and tallied by AFP.

AFP cannot confirm whether all the interceptions were reported.

Every year, thousands of Africans fleeing poverty and unemployment in search of a better future embark on the perilous route to Europe.

Many take the dangerous Atlantic route to Spain's Canary Islands, involving days of sailing across treacherous currents in ageing open wooden fishing boats known as pirogues.

At least 26 migrants who set sail from Guinea died off the coast of Senegal when their boat sank around the beginning of May, Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said last week, adding that his West African country was experiencing a migration "haemorrhage".

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