More than 10,000 migrants died on way to Spain in 2024: NGO

MADRID: An NGO on Thursday said at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain through sea, 58% more than of 2023 and the most since the organisation began keeping record in 2007. 

The increase included 1,538 children and 421 women, the group Caminando Fronteras or Walking Borders stated in a report covering the period from January 1 to December 5, 2024. 

It amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.

The group compiles its data from hotlines set up for migrants on vessels in trouble to call for help, families of migrants who went missing and from official rescue statistics.

It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths.

“These figures are evidence of a profound failure of 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 were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.

The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, which has received a record number of migrants for the second year in a row.

Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X.

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

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

Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three major European gateways for migrant arrivals.

According to the interior ministry, 60,216 migrants entered Spain irregularly between January 1 and December 15 — a 14.5% increase over the same time last year.

The majority, over 70%, landed in the Canaries.