2024-01-09T16:39:20+00:00
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/ The Spanish non-governmental organization “Caminando Fronteras” revealed, on Tuesday, the 2023 toll of illegal immigration operations, where 6,618 immigrants drowned or went missing.
The organization stated that most of the migrants set off on rickety boats from Senegal towards the Canary Islands, and those who arrive in Spain often continue their journey towards other European countries.
It showed that at least 6,618 migrants died or went missing trying to reach Spain in 2023, which witnessed an unprecedented influx of migrants in the Canary Islands archipelago.
This number, which is equivalent to recording the loss of 18 migrants per day on average, witnessed an increase of about three times what was recorded in 2022, and is considered the “highest” recorded by the non-governmental organization since the beginning of its statistics in 2007, according to what its coordinator, Helena Malino, said.
Caminando Fronteras denounced these “shameful numbers”, criticizing the idea that the Spanish authorities, or the authorities of the countries from which these migrants originate, prefer “immigration control” rather than the “right to life” for these people who are looking for a better life in Europe, and do not provide resources. Sufficient for relief items.
A report by the non-governmental organization, based on distress calls from migrants at sea or from their families, indicated last year that 11,200 migrants died or went missing while trying to reach Spain between 2018 and 2022, the equivalent of six people per day on average.
Last year, the International Organization for Migration, which for its part relies on indirect testimonies and articles, counted more than 1,200 deaths or missing persons on immigration routes to Spain.
But this United Nations organization confirms that its numbers are “most likely” a “significant” underestimate due to the difficulty of documenting drowning cases and the failure to find the majority of bodies.
This increase in the number of victims or missing people comes in light of the doubling of the number of migrants who arrived illegally in Spain in the year 2023, to reach 56,852 people, in an unprecedented influx of migrants to the Canary Islands archipelago, according to figures published by the Spanish government during… Last week.
Consequently, the number of illegal immigrants who entered Spain last year increased by 82.1% compared to 2022. This annual figure is the highest since 2018, when 64,298 immigrants arrived in the country, which is one of the main gateways to Europe along with Italy and Greece.
According to the European Frontex agency, these migrants came in particular from Morocco and Senegal.
The number of arrivals to Spain via the Mediterranean, from Morocco or Algeria, also increased by 19.1% last year compared to 2022, reaching 15,435 people. Conversely, the number of migrants entering the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla by jumping their high walls fell by about 46%, to 1,234.
Although the numbers of illegal immigrants in Spain rose last year, they remain almost three times lower than those recorded by Italy, the first gateway to the European Union, according to Frontex.
Caminando Fronteras reported that the majority of cases of missing migrants heading to Spain (6,007 of the total) were recorded on the very dangerous migration route between the coasts of northwest Africa and the Canary Archipelago, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Migrants undertake this journey extending hundreds of kilometers, which takes several days or even weeks, on board rickety, crowded boats. If the boat’s course deviates to the west or makes a mistake in its course to the Canary Islands, or if it is not spotted by relief personnel, its passengers face drowning or death from Hungry, thirsty, or suffering from low body temperature.
Caminando Fronteras pointed out that the migrants who went missing while trying to reach Spain initially left the coast of Senegal, a country that has been facing violent political unrest for two years and is currently witnessing waves of migration towards the Canary Islands.
The non-governmental organization monitored 611 deaths or missing cases during the past year on the migration route linking Morocco and Algeria to the coast of southern Spain.
The organization counted 363 women and 384 children among the various victims during the past year. Morocco is Spain’s main partner in its fight against immigration, after Madrid normalized its relations with Rabat in 2022 at the expense of a controversial shift regarding the sensitive issue of Western Sahara.
In the last stage, Spain strengthened its cooperation with Senegal and Mauritania. Last Thursday, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska welcomed the joint efforts between his country and West African countries, which led to “preventing the departure of more than 27,000 migrants” last year. “We saved their lives,” he said.
The European Frontex agency indicated that migrants arriving in the Canary Islands depart mainly from Morocco and Senegal, and to a lesser extent from Gambia, Guinea, and Ivory Coast in particular. Spain is often just a stopping point for these immigrants coming from Africa, as a large portion of them head to other European countries located to the north, such as France.