An Andalusian human rights association reports that the number of migrants that arrived in Spain last year via risky sea journeys had tripled on the previous year and that at least 250 had lost their lives in the attempt.
The APDHA human rights association of Andalusia has called for safe channels for migrants to reach Europe to avoid risking their lives in the Mediterranean.
On Monday, APDHA presented its 2017 report on migration, which shows that arrivals via sea on Spanish coasts tripled over the past year - to 22,419 - compared with the previous one.
A total of 28,587 arrived in Spain when taking into account those arriving via land as well, while at least 250 died or disappeared during the crossing.
'Hellish situation' in Libya
The increase corresponds to a drop in migrant flows along the central Mediterranean route, which nevertheless continues to be the most popular route. The overall number of migrant arrivals is still five times that recorded on the Spanish border, as shown by the figures for Italy (119,369 people), followed by those for Greece (35,052).
The coordinator of APDHA's area for international solidarity, Rafael Lara, said that an increase in repression, the persecution of NGOs assisting migrants and the ''hellish situation'' in Libya have pushed many to seek alternative ways in the Strait of Gibraltar, even more dangerous ones. ''The measures to limit flows agreed with countries of origin, repression of migrants and mechanisms to close the borders of Fortress Europe are not able to stop the forced migration of those fleeing war, hunger or a lack of opportunity,'' the spokesperson of the association said, adding that the number of victims was ''unbearable''.
Some 249 have lost their lives on Spain's southern border, including a four-year-old boy named Samuel, whose body washed up onto the Barbate coast near Cadiz in January of last year, while that of his mother - Veronique Nzazi - was recovered in February in Algeria.
Record high in Andalusia
Lara stressed the high number of arrivals in Andalusia - 18,090 - and especially on the coasts of Cadiz, where the arrival of 6,289 people, most of whom Moroccans, marked a 300 percent increase compared with 2016. He also noted that the rise was connected with ''the economic and social crisis that Morocco has been experiencing for over a year''.
Andalusia was followed in terms of arrivals by Melilla (4,831, mostly via land), Levante (2,492), Ceuta (2,438), the Canary Islands (434) and the Balearic Islands (302). APDHA also noted a decrease in the number of women landing on the Spanish coasts and a 66 percent increase in unaccompanied minors, stressing that there was a lack of resources and appropriate facilities for their protection.
Morocco is the main country of origin for undocumented migrants arriving in the country, followed by Algeria, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Gambia and Syria. War has been raging in Syria for almost 7 years but less than 12 percent of the migrants arriving in Spain are from the country. Some 49 percent of the foreigners who crossed the southern border of Europe in 2017 came from sub-Saharan Africa.
A total of 99 of the known dead as well as 150 of those who disappeared at sea were also from sub-Saharan Africa: 217 total. Another 32 migrants who lost their lives in the crossing were from North Africa.
Europe 'trying out repressive policies in Ceuta and Melilla'
The borders of the Ceuta and Melilla enclaves, in Moroccan territory, ''are a camp for testing of repressive European policies'', the APDHA spokesperson said. ''Obscure payments to Morocco, immediate pushbacks, drones, blades on the border barriers and pits: these are spaces for arbitrariness, where rights are violated,'' Lara said. He noted that Spain had repeatedly been condemned by the European Court for Human Rights for the practice known as 'devoluciones en calientes', immediate pushbacks at the border, without identifying the migrants or giving them the chance to request asylum.