Spanish authorities are searching for the bodies of migrants believed to have drowned off the coast of the island of Lanzarote on Wednesday morning. They were alerted to the case after four of the men believed to have been on an overturned boat managed to swim ashore.
Remains of the boat were quickly found on a rocky stretch of coastline on the island which lies west of the south-east coast of Morocco. Rescuers from the towns of Arrecife and Teguise launched a boat and helicopter search once the remains of the boat had been spotted by villagers.
According to the German news agency DPA, four men are reported to have swum to shore on the west coast of the island near the town of Caleta de Caballo. It is still not clear from where exactly the boat set off. The four survivors are reported to be of Maghrebi origin.
According to the British tabloid newspaper "The Daily Mirror" the four survivors reported there might have been 15 to 16 other migrants onboard the boat from which they swam to shore. The newspaper also reported that the Red Cross treated the four men on the beach where they were found; writing they did not need to go to hospital for any further treatment. They are reported to be in good health.
Arrivals on the rise
The Mirror quoted the local mayor Oswaldo Betancourt's reaction. He said: "This event will reopen a thousand debates about immigration, borders and surveillance, but the sad thing is that today it takes new lives and with them, the illusions and hopes of many families who want to start live again as any human being deserves."
At the end of October, the German-language online news site “Teneriffa News” reported that there had been recent increases in the number of migrant ships arriving on the shores of the Canary Islands. They said that many of the small boats arriving from the coast of west Africa were overloaded and in recent weeks had numbered women and children too. Some boats were carrying more than a 100 people, reported the site. InfoMigrants also reported on the renewed increase in arrivals to Spain's Canary Islands in June this year.
Part of the EU, but geographically closer to Africa
The Canary islands are part of the EU country Spain, but located hundreds of miles southwest of Spain, much closer to the African country Morocco than the rest of the European Union.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)’s latest figures, 255 people arrived on the Canary Islands in the last week and over 1400 people arrived over the whole of 2019 so far. Arrivals across the whole of Spain are significantly down on 2018 figures, however the numbers of arrivals on land and over sea have been gradually increasing since August of this year.