NGO Walking Borders on Wednesday (June 12) said 2024 is so far the deadliest for migrants trying to reach Spain by sea with the Atlantic route, or ‘Canary route,” registering 4808 of the 5054 deaths the organisation has tallied in the first five months of the year.
Thirty-three people die every day trying to make the perilous journey and 47 wooden boats filled with people have disappeared at sea, the NGO said.
The head of the Red Cross in the Canary Islands, Jose Antonio Rodriguez Verona, said the route taken by migrants from north Africa towards Spain is the most dangerous and is the one taking the most lives.
Data from Spain’s Ministry of Interior shows an increase of arrivals of 259.6% for the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period last year. To May 31, 2024, 17,117 people have arrived irregularly by sea to the Canary Islands compared to 4760 last year. The ministry does not provide data on deaths.
The Ministry of Interior has predicted 70,000 migrants will arrive this year in the Canary Islands.
Txema Santana, a Gran Canaria based journalist and expert in migration, said it is difficult to forecast arrivals, but what is certain, “is that in west Africa and Mauritania, the elements of a perfect storm exist,” that may push people to embark on the journey to Europe this summer and also in the fall.
Santana said that if the prediction proves true, an additional 10,000 underage migrants could arrive in Spain this year.
(REUTERS)