MADRID, (TDI): Fifty migrants are feared to have drowned while attempting to reach Spain by boat from West Africa, the migrant rights group Walking Borders reported on Thursday. Among the victims, 44 were Pakistani nationals.
Moroccan authorities rescued 36 survivors from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on January 2 carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, according to the Spain-based advocacy group.
The incident highlights the ongoing dangers of the Atlantic migration route, which claimed a record 10,457 lives in 2024—an average of 30 deaths per day—as migrants sought to reach Spain, often from countries like Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, Walking Borders reported.
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The rights group stated that it had alerted authorities in the region six days prior about the missing boat. Alarm Phone, an NGO operating an emergency hotline for migrants in distress at sea, said it had informed Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12. However, the service responded that it had no information about the vessel.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of Spain’s Canary Islands, expressed sorrow over the tragedy and called for immediate action from Spain and Europe.
“The Atlantic cannot continue to be the graveyard of Africa,” Clavijo wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “They cannot keep turning their backs on this humanitarian crisis.”
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Helena Maleno, CEO of Walking Borders, also shared her anguish on X, noting that the migrants endured 13 harrowing days at sea without rescue.
The tragedy underscores the urgent need for coordinated international efforts to address the humanitarian and migration crisis in the Atlantic corridor.
