Record number of migrants lost at sea bound for Spain in 2024: NGO

MADRID: At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an NGO said on Thursday, more than 50 percent more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.

The 58 percent increase includes 1,538 children and 421 women, migrant rights group Caminando Fronteras (“Walking Borders”) said in a report that covers 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 official rescue statistics.

It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as a lack of resources for rescues 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.

Most 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.