Last year, over 6,600 migrants lost their lives attempting to reach Spain by boat, the organization Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said Tuesday. This figure, more than double the casualties recorded in the previous year, has been characterized as "a massacre" by the NGO.
Caminando Fronteras said that 2023 was the deadliest year since it began documenting migrant deaths en route to Spain in 2007. Most of the 6,618 deaths recorded in 2023 occurred on the Atlantic route from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands.
The figure included 363 women and 384 children. A total of 84 boats went missing with their human cargo, without leaving any trace, the NGO said.
"A massacre of migrants: 6,618 persons died in 2023 while attempting to reach the Spanish coasts; this is equivalent to 18 victims per day, figures which had never been registered before, truly horrific, that we cannot normalize," states Caminando Fronteras' new report presented on January 9 in Madrid.
Also read: Spain: Migration routes became busier in 2023
Collecting first-hand data on missing persons
The report, analyzing movements across the main migration routes in Spain, including maritime and terrestrial borders and the coastline from the south of Senegal to Algeria, gathers firsthand data on missing persons through a telephone alert line for migrants and their families.
This information is then channeled to the Human Observatory for Human Rights, established in 2017.
Also read: Canary Islands: Tragic deaths at sea reported as Spain confirms record high migration
Canary Islands route most dangerous
"The Canary Islands route is once again confirmed as the most dangerous one", explained Helena Maleno, the Coordinator for the NGO Caminando Fronteras, while presenting the report.
"The main problem is that priority continues to be given to controlling migration instead of focusing on the right to life," she added.
Maleno denounced the lack of emphasis on the duty to assist and protect the right to life, criticizing border control measures that compromise the human rights of migrants and citing delays or the absence of activated search and rescue missions.
The report reconstructs 231 tragedies recorded on the migration routes at the Euro-African borders in 2023.
According to figures released by the Spanish interior ministry, a record 55,618 migrants arrived in Spain by boat last year, nearly doubling the previous year's numbers, with the vast majority using the Atlantic route.
Also read: Spain spends millions to tackle Canary Islands 'migration flow'