At least 978 people died or disappeared at sea during the first half of the year when trying to reach Spain, which represents a drop to about half compared to 2021, the Spanish organization Walking Borders announced on Wednesday.
In the same period last year, the number of dead and missing migrants crossing the Spanish coast reached 2,087.
EITHER The decrease now verified is explained by the organization with the fact that 2021 was “particularly deadly”Well, it was in that year that the borders were reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, Walking Borders added, the number of migrants leaving the Moroccan coast has slowed down, in a context of normalization of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Madrid.
According to the organization —which establishes this assessment based on emergency telephone calls from migrants or their relatives, crossed with official and associative sources—, the most of the people (87.8%) were never found, so they are counted as missing.
Among those identified, from some 20 African countries, there were 118 women.
Walking Borders also pointed out that most of the migrants (800 people) disappeared trying to reach the Canary Islands from northwest Africa, a particularly dangerous route and much more used in recent years due to the reinforcement of controls in the Mediterranean.
The report by the Spanish non-governmental organization (NGO) also denounces the lack of resources and coordination of maritime rescue services in the different countries of the region and claims there is a “deadly migration control policy”noting in particular the recent tragedy in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco.
On June 24, at least 23 migrants died at the Melilla border, when some 2,000 people irregularly tried to cross the fence that marks the enclave’s border, according to Moroccan authorities.
Human rights organizations report a higher number of deaths, admitting at least 37 fatalities.
In a report presented this Wednesday, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) indicated that at least 27 people died and another 64 are reported missing after the events in Melilla.
The number of arrivals by sea to Spain, which is one of the main points of entry for undocumented immigrants to Europe, fell by a third (35.7%) between the first and second quarters, according to a calculation by the French agency AFP. Based on figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
Source: Observadora
