Over 10,400 Migrants Died in 2024 Trying to Reach Spain
Migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea, Sep. 2024. X/ @streetcnina
December 26, 2024 Hour: 12:19 pm
Among them were 421 women and 1,538 children or adolescents.
On Thursday, the NGO Walking Borders (Caminando Fronteras) published “Right to Life Monitoring 2024,” a report showing that 10,457 migrants died in 2024 while attempting to reach Spanish shores. Among them were 421 women and 1,538 children or adolescents.
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This figure equates to an average of 30 migrant deaths per day, a 58% increase compared to the previous year. It also reflects a notable rise in fatalities over the past two years, as the 6,618 deaths recorded in 2023 nearly tripled those registered in 2022.
Founded in 2002, the organization Walking Borders tracks migrants during their journeys to Spain via the sea, obtaining data through direct calls from the precarious boats used by these individuals, as well as from their relatives and communities.
The Atlantic route, which runs from the coasts of Africa to the Canary Islands, “remains the deadliest migration route worldwide,” accounting for 9,757 victims, or 93% of the total.
Meanwhile, 517 deaths occurred along the route from Algeria to the eastern Spanish coast and the Balearic Islands via the Mediterranean; 110 migrants died in the Strait of Gibraltar, and 72 on the Alboran route, which connects the Rif coasts of Morocco with eastern Andalusia in southern Spain.
131 Boats Vanish Without a Trace
The Walking Borders report details 293 tragedies across various migration routes and provides another grim statistic: 131 boats disappeared without a trace, along with all the migrants aboard.
It also highlights a “notable increase” in departures from Mauritania, a country that “has become the main crossing point” for migration to the Canary Islands, where 6,829 deaths occurred.
Additionally, it notes that the Algerian route to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean is also considered one of the “most dangerous” due to its length and the difficulty of the journey. By month, April recorded the highest number of deaths, with 1,284 fatalities.
The 10,457 deaths documented by Walking Borders involved migrants from 28 nationalities, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Iraq, Comoros, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Republic of Congo, Somalia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen.
Causes of the Increase in Shipwrecks
Walking Borders attributes the rise in shipwrecks to the failure to fulfill the duty to provide assistance and warns that migration control is being prioritized over the right to life.
It also highlights the externalization of borders. “Responsibility for rescues is being shifted to countries with limited resources, worsening their ability to respond to these emergencies,” the report states.
It adds that many rescue operations “were not activated in time” and also believes that the “criminalization and stigmatization” of social organizations and families raising alarms about individuals at risk affect the effectiveness of rescue operations.
Finally, it points to the extreme vulnerability of the conditions under which these individuals undertake their journeys: unseaworthy vessels, shortages of water, food, and navigation tools, and adverse weather conditions that make the trip even more perilous.
Women and Children at the Border
The 2024 report underscores the presence of women on migration routes. These women, mostly in transit, “face violence, discrimination, racism, deportations, and sexual violence,” the report states, noting that many of them travel with children born during the journey and survive in extreme conditions.
It also reports an increase in the number of children and adolescents on these routes and denounces “the lack of protection and guarantees provided by authorities.”
The NGO criticizes that minors are often treated as migrants rather than children and are used as “political bargaining chips, leaving them exposed to hate speech and vulnerability.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE