Rescuers overnight found the bodies of six migrants who died trying to reach the Atlantic island of El Hierro. They had set out in two of four boats to arrive in the Spanish Canary Islands from Mauritania in recent days.
Four migrant boats carrying a total of 284 people arrived on the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands archipelago off West Africa’s coast on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday (December 10-11), the local emergency services and the Red Cross said.
The first of two boats that arrived at the port of La Restinga late Tuesday had 67 people on board, including 12 minors, the Spanish news agency EFE reported. The passengers from Mali, Egypt, Senegal and Guinea Bissau, had left from Nouakchott four days earlier.
The second boat, carrying 72 adults and two children from Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast, had left the Mauritanian capital at around the same time. The boat got into trouble and was rescued by Spanish search and rescue services about 15 kilometers from El Hierro.
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Six dead on third and fourth boats
Another migrant boat with 81 men on board had been at sea for five days when it arrived at El Hierro. Five of the men were already dead, one after suffering a heart attack, according to the emergency services. There was no information about the identities of the deceased, but EFE reported that the passengers on the boat came from Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Bangladesh. Upon arrival at La Restinga, 12 of the survivors were taken to the island’s hospital and another 12 received emergency first aid at the dock.
The fourth boat, also carrying people from Mali, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania, arrived after one of its 62 occupants had died. Rescuers reached the boat about 93 kilometers from El Hierro.
Record number reach Canary Islands in 2024
Driven by so-called push factors such as conflict, poverty, and climate change, migrants continue to attempt the Atlantic route to Europe from West Africa. This year, the number of undocumented migrants reaching the Canary Islands has hit an all-time annual high for a second year in a row. In total, 41,425 migrants reached the islands between January and November, exceeding the figure of 39,910 arrivals in all of 2023.
The archipelago is the main entry point for migrants to Spain, but the islands lack the capacity to receive and accommodate people arriving daily on boats. El Hierro has become the main destination, despite being farther from the most common ports of departure from the African coast. This year, around 20,000 people have landed on the tiny island – around twice the number of residents.
The local authorities' inability to cope and inadequate reception facilities, especially for migrant minors, has become a source of political mud-slinging between the government of Pedro Sanchez and the right wing parties in parliament.
In Spain overall, 56,976 undocumented migrants have arrived so far this year, a lower figure than in 2018, when it reached a record of 64,298, according to AFP.
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Deaths on Atlantic route rising even faster
The number of migrants going missing or dying on the voyage is growing five times as fast as the number of those arriving alive, the latest available data show.
The UN migration agency IOM has reported 964 missing migrants on the Atlantic route in 2024. That figure is around two thirds of the number of missing migrants in the Central Mediterranean route from North Africa in the same period.
The journey from the coast of West Africa is especially dangerous as the vessels used by most migrants, such as rafts, dinghies and fishing boats known as pirogues, can easily capsize in rough weather.
With Reuters, AFP, EFE