Di dangerous route to Canary Islands: 'You fit begin craze dey see tins sotay some dey jump boat thinking say dem don reach land and drown'

Di waves wey nack di small wooden boats, di fear, di cold, di cry-cry, di smell... Aboubacar Drame no go ever forget di way di journey bin tough to reach di Canary Islands.

Hundreds of young pipo dey japa from di African coast enta Spain for wetin dem believe na di Oyibo dream. Aboubacar Drame na one of dem. E be 17 years and comot western Mali and carry boat for Mauritania and four days later im, land for Gran Canarias.

E lucky say im make am. For di first half of dis year alone, 778 pipo die or don disappear as dem dey try reach di Canary Coast according to di Caminado Fronteras wey dey monitor di area for ova 20 years.

Drame tell BBC Mundo for video call say "our journey on top water last for three days. On di fourth day, we arrive. I don always tok say afta di fourth day na wen kasla dey burst. We bin dey lucky."

Drama bin follow BBC tok as e dey remember di journey im take for 2006, di year wey di goment call "di crisis of di cayucos", wey resemble wetin thousands of odas dey do.

E say, "di worst na for sunsets. Pipo go say "look di sunset, e fine wella" but for us na wahala because e mean di beginning of di night, di darkness, di suffering and di cold."

E add say, "dat na di most terrible time for me, wen di sun start to dey go down. For night, e dey become colder and na like say di sea dey hit harder. You no fit sleep di whole trip. I remember di smell, di vomit. E dey very hard. Di conditions for di boat bin dey very hard and na only four days."

Drame trip bin happun during serious migratory crisis like di one wey dey happun now. As more dan 7,500 migrants don enta di Canary Islands for October alone, di Canary Islands dey expect record numbers.

19 oda pipo follow am for dat journey. Normally di pateras, (wetin dem dey call di small boats wey dey carry di migrants), carry between 30 to 50 pipo, but for im own trip wen di first group enta, na im di coast guard come and na so im start di journey with who already dey boat.

Drame insist say "to dey di Atlantic dey very hard", as for di whole journey im no eat or drink.

"We reach very tired. Imagine four days travel with seasickness and everytin. You piss and poo-poo for di same boat, small boat wey pipo full. Di older pipo bin dey cry and pray. E look like dem don start to craze. Na dem suffer pass."

"All di time we bin dey bail water wey di waves put for our boat go out. You go spend everyday wet, as your legs always dey inside wata." E say di mata cause dem skin wounds and e dey common togeda with burns and sunstroke.

Sometimes, because food and water no dey, dem go start to dey drink sea water. Silvia Cruz Ora wey be technician with di Red Cross Missing Migrants in di Canary Islands project tell BBC Mundo say, "dia organs go start to fail and sometimes dia mind fit go sotay some go jump boat drown because dem believe say dem don reach land."

Drame pipo bin manage engine problem, full day without GPS and still reach land. Plenti small boats and cayucos dey lost because of breakdown, fuel finish or because dia boat spoil.

According to Caminando Fronteras, 244 boats don disappear pata-pata between 2018 and 2022.

Caminanado Fronteras tok-tok pesin Helena Maleno tell BBC Mundo say, "right now, di Atlantic route na di most dangerous active route for di whole world".

Her figures plenti pass di ones wey di International Organization for mIgration (IOM) release by small because Caminando Fronteras dey collect dia data from primary sources.

Di Missing Migrants Project of di International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimate say 422 pipo don die or disappear so far dis year, dis na 21% jump from di numbers for dis same time last year.

IOM tell BBC Mundo say dis no be even di complete figures as more shipwrecks dey dan dem dey record but data sources no dey readily available.

With dis informate, Drame sabi how lucky e be.

In total, na 700 euros e spend. E explain say "many politicians go tok about traffickers like na some big mafia de run am but from my experience na di passengers go find pesin wey fit show dem wia to buy patera."

E add say. "many times, di pipo wey dey bring di pateras demselves na fishermen wey don dey sail for years. Dem tell dem say d fitem travel for free if dem drive di boats."

'Dem sink like bag of potatoes'

No be am be di only underage for di boat, but di boat no carry women. E say "e dey rare to see women enta dis boats wey dey comot Mauritania ". But im like many wey enta no fit swim and yet e no stop dem to enta.

Manuel Barroso wey be di oga of di National Maritime Coordination Center tell BBC Mundo say "we don dey rescue pipo for years but we dey consider say di pipo normally swim and dem get muscle pass Europeans, so dem go just sink go bottom, like bag of potatoes."

Barroso explain say, "You know di moment one of dem land inside water, you fit either save am or lose am".

Barroso explain say "as soon as we enta water, na danger for every one everytin dey affect from weather, di condition of di boat, di number of pipo on board."

E add say "di Atlantic na open sea. Wen you comot di African coast, you go see say weather conditions for sea level get more depth and more waves. Na complicated area."

Dis na how di Atlantic don turn invisible mass grave, because e hard to count di exact number of pipo wey disappear and dem neva find dia bodi.

Cruz Oran say, "For di figures for 2021 to 2023, 86% of di total dead and missing pipo, no dey, dat is to say dem neva find dia bodi."

To avoid deaths, more dan 300 pipo from Salvamento Maritimo work for di Canary Islands.

With 10 rapid intervention vessels wey get three to four crew members, three patrol boats, two tugboats, two helicopters and one search plane, dem dey try find boats wen dem get warning but e dey hard cos di area dem go need search dey big.

Barroso point say "you need to keep for mind say no be like to dey look for street corner. Imagine say you dey your motor for some wia wey be three times di size of Spain and we dey find you."

Dem go collect informate like time of departure, type of boat, engine and power to narrow wia to search.

Barrosso say, "di moment of rescue and how you dey run am dey important and e dey depend on how di pipo on board dey. Dem normally dey fear and all of dem go run go one side wey go make di boat capsize and we go now need to get dem out of di water sharapaly before dem sink finish.

Barroso say di distance wey dem travel dey very important for rescue missions.

Dis na as most of di migrants dey normally come from Morocco, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Senegal wia di waka dey normally take about nine days.

Na wetin happun to Thiambou Samb wey at 17 enta cayuco from Senegal for 2006 and land Tenerife afta nine days with 137 pipo afta three attempts before.

"For di first waka, afta four days, di seas bin dey very rough and di boat break. Some fishermen, enta di seas to tie am and go back."

E tell BBC Mundo say, "Di second time we no carry enough food and di third time di boat break again and plenti water start to enta. E bin hard to go back. Everyone bin dey fear and shout, complete confusion full ground. At dat time you go come dey ask yourself weda e worth am to comot."

For im first trip im pay 800 euros but di remaining, dem allow am enta free on di condition say im go dey bail di water comot di boat. Samb like Drame no go eva forget im crossing.

E tok say, "O di fifth day, I stand for di front of di boat and everywia I turn na just water I dey see. I see how pipo wey dey with me dey fear and I bin tink say if dis boat sink now dis pipo beta pass me cos dem go just drown without suffering but me I sabi swim, float. I go endure days wey be say I no fit die because I no know how to commit suicide by sea. Wen all dat one come your mind time don reach to ask why I do dis."

Wen e take ova for night, e go try cheer dem up with one song on long journey and no mata how hard make you no give up. Samb say, "dem be beautiful moments."

Both Drame and Samb plus all di migrants wey land Canary Islands go go Detention Center for Foreigners wia dem fit stay for 60 days. Goment data say dem dey spend about 45 days dia.

Afta dem go transfer dem go oda centers for di peninsula or dem go take dem go dia kontris back.

NGOs and groups dey call out di lack of transparency on di number of pipo dem dey send back. BBC Mundo too no fit get di number. Di Spanish Interior Ministry say "di data of returns no dey public."

To add to di wahala say dem fit deport pesin, di migrants dey find say di conditions for Spain no be wetin dem imagine.

Samb remember di 18 days e spend for dia before dem move am go mainland with fear, "years later wen I watch di feem 'The Diary of Anne Frank' I realize say I bin dey concentration camp, di modernized version. Honestly, di worst bin dey wait me for Spain, no be for dat boat."

Samb sleep for three months for under bridge for di Turia River.

E say, "I enta four small boats to reach Spain to discover poverty, real poverty. Wen I enta Spain na wen I know say I black and wetin e mean."

E jam social worker wey ask am "wetin you wan be". E say dis na question wey pesin neva ask am before.

"I tell am say I be fisherman, but na actor work dey make me happy". Na so e join one theatre group from wia di director of di Williams Shakespeare Foundation for Valencia sight am and na wia e start to work for famous feems like "The Silence of the Swamp", "Black Beach" and di popular series "Riot Control".

Now, im dream na to win Goya as e dey get millions of views for im TikTok channel wia e dey try raise awareness about di current human kasala.