People desperate for a better future continue to put their lives in the hands of fragile boats and dangerous seas.
Spain says more than 550 migrants have arrived on its Canary Islands off the north-west coast of Africa in the past two days.
At least one body was found in one of the boats, Spain’s maritime rescue service said Thursday.
It says it continues to experience the arrival of large numbers of migrants on the archipelago, mostly from West Africa.
Interior Ministry figures showed that in the first half of January, 3,409 migrants reached Spain by sea, the vast majority to the Canaries.
Last year, almost two-thirds of the record 61,000 people who cross illegally into Spain, landed in the islands.
They included several thousand unaccompanied minors.
Despite the fact that the Canary Islands are just 105 kilometres from Africa at the closest point, many migrants attempt much longer journeys to avoid security forces.
Last year, most boats departed from Mauritania, which is at least 762 kilometres from the closest island, El Hierro.
Earlier this month, Spanish migration rights group, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders), said that 50 people had died when a boat capsized on its way to the islands.
Surprisingly, it reported that 44 of them were from not from Africa but from Pakistan.
The European Union’s border agency, Frontex, said irregular crossings into the bloc fell by 38 per cent overall in 2024.
However, it rose by 18 per cent on the Atlantic route between West Africa and the Canary Islands.
Frontex attributed the rise in part to more migrants leaving from Mauritania, which has become a primary point of departure for people attempting to reach Europe.
The International Organization for Migration says at least 5,000 migrants have died or gone missing on the migratory route since it began keeping records in 2014.
But Caminando Fronteras says the real death toll is significantly higher and that over 10,000 people died or went missing while attempting the route last year alone.
Source: Africanews
