NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania - Two dozen famished and thirsty Africans were rescued from the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, 11 days after their Europe-bound vessel foundered far from Mauritania's shore.
Hacen Ould Ahmed, the navy commander whose sailors found the boat carrying 24 African migrants about 100 miles off the west African nation's coast, said the group had been adrift for 11 days.
One of the passengers told The Associated Press they had been drinking sea water for a week.
“They were determined to reach Europe with this little boat, but it brought them together for a collective suicide,” Ahmed said.
The rescue came a day after Mauritania's prime minister called on the West to help the northwest African country cope with “unimaginable” numbers of people streaming through his country to attempt the perilous ocean voyage to Europe.
European leaders concerned about absorbing the immigrants already on their shores are eager to cooperate.
More than 1,000 Africans - some driven by hope for jobs, others escaping their continent's many wars - have died over the past four months alone while trying to sail in small wooden boats from Mauritania to Spain's faraway Canary Islands, Mauritania's Red Crescent branch says.
Friday's haggard-looking group included citizens of the west African nations of Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia - among the poorest countries in the world.
“I left my native village, Niagagane in the area of Kayes in Mali, only three months ago with the firm determination not to return without money, cars and goods from Europe,” Tiemoko Diarra said following his arrest. Diarra said he spent the equivalent of about $1,000 for the trip.
The group will be turned over to Mauritania's immigration authorities, Ahmed said.
Prime Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar said Thursday that authorities arrested 3,900 migrants in 2005 and 1,200 have been detained so far this year.
More than 3,000 migrants have reached the Canary Islands from Africa so far this year, compared with 4,751 for all of 2005 and 8,519 in 2004.
The European Union's top justice and interior affairs official, Franco Frattini, said Thursday the EU stood ready to provided emergency aid to Mauritania to help it police its borders.
Mauritania does not offer the easiest route to Europe, but other countries just across the ocean from southern Europe have cracked down on illegal migrants, pressuring human traffickers to step up efforts to send would-be immigrants by traditional wooden fishing canoe to Spain's Canary Islands - hundreds of miles across treacherous Atlantic waters from Mauritania.
One of the passengers told The Associated Press they had been drinking sea water for a week.
“They were determined to reach Europe with this little boat, but it brought them together for a collective suicide,” Ahmed said.
The rescue came a day after Mauritania's prime minister called on the West to help the northwest African country cope with “unimaginable” numbers of people streaming through his country to attempt the perilous ocean voyage to Europe.
European leaders concerned about absorbing the immigrants already on their shores are eager to cooperate.
More than 1,000 Africans - some driven by hope for jobs, others escaping their continent's many wars - have died over the past four months alone while trying to sail in small wooden boats from Mauritania to Spain's faraway Canary Islands, Mauritania's Red Crescent branch says.
Friday's haggard-looking group included citizens of the west African nations of Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia - among the poorest countries in the world.
“I left my native village, Niagagane in the area of Kayes in Mali, only three months ago with the firm determination not to return without money, cars and goods from Europe,” Tiemoko Diarra said following his arrest. Diarra said he spent the equivalent of about $1,000 for the trip.
The group will be turned over to Mauritania's immigration authorities, Ahmed said.
Prime Minister Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar said Thursday that authorities arrested 3,900 migrants in 2005 and 1,200 have been detained so far this year.
More than 3,000 migrants have reached the Canary Islands from Africa so far this year, compared with 4,751 for all of 2005 and 8,519 in 2004.
The European Union's top justice and interior affairs official, Franco Frattini, said Thursday the EU stood ready to provided emergency aid to Mauritania to help it police its borders.
Mauritania does not offer the easiest route to Europe, but other countries just across the ocean from southern Europe have cracked down on illegal migrants, pressuring human traffickers to step up efforts to send would-be immigrants by traditional wooden fishing canoe to Spain's Canary Islands - hundreds of miles across treacherous Atlantic waters from Mauritania.
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