Record number of migrants died trying to reach Spain this year | Migration News

More than 10,000 migrants – an average of 30 per day – died trying to reach Spain in 2024, a new report from the NGO says.

More than 10,000 migrants have died this year trying to reach Spain by sea, according to a report published by a Spanish migration rights organization. This is the highest number since counting began in 2007.

On average, 30 migrants have died every day this year while trying to reach the country by boat, the NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said on Thursday.

The total number of deaths increased by 58 percent in comparison last yearthe report added.

Tens of thousands Migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago near the African coast that is increasingly used as a stepping stone to continental Europe.

Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded as of December 15 occurred along this crossing, the so-called Atlantic route – considered one of the most dangerous in the world.

The organization collects its numbers from migrant families and official statistics on those rescued. The dead included 1,538 children and 421 women. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said.

It increasingly blamed the use of flimsy boats dangerous routes and the insufficient capacity of sea rescue services to account for the increase in fatalities.

“These figures show a serious failure of the rescue and protection systems. “More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.

The victims came from 28 nations, mainly from Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.

Many migrants, including women, “experience violence, discrimination, racism, deportations and sexual violence and are forced to survive in extreme conditions” before their departure, the report said.

Caminando Fronteras also recorded a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats departing from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point en route to the Canary Islands.

Seven refugee boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, the Spanish sea rescue service said on the social media site X.

In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros ($218 million) in aid to Mauritania to help the country crack down on people smugglers and prevent boats from being launched.

At their closest point, the Canary Islands lie 100 km (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route runs between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.

But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of the strong currents.

Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three most important European gateways for arriving migrants.

According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, as of December 15 this year, more than 57,700 migrants reached Spain by boat, an increase of about 12 percent compared to the same period last year. Most of them came via the Atlantic route.