Rabat – At least 978 migrants died or went missing while attempting to reach Spain in the first half of 2022, an average of around five deaths per day, a report by Spanish human rights NGO Caminando Fronteras revealed on Wednesday.
Titled “Monitoring the Right to Life: January – June 2022,” the report indicated that the majority of fatalities – 28 shipwrecks resulting in 800 deaths – occurred during attempts to reach the Spanish Canary Islands, which are located 100 kilometers west of Morocco’s coastline.
The Islands have become a hotspot for migrants, mainly Sub-Saharan Africans, trying to reach Europe.
The remaining casualties were recorded on the Alboran sea route (35 deaths – three shipwrecks), the Algerian route (101 deaths – 11 shipwrecks), and the Strait of Gibraltar route (two deaths – two shipwrecks).
“To all these victims should be added the 40 deaths on the land border, between Nador and Melilla, as a result of the June 24 tragedy,” said the NGO.
The migrant rights group revealed that 87.83% of the victims have been identified, adding that among the 938 migrants who lost their lives at sea routes, 118 were women and 41 were children.
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The victims came from up to 23 different countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, Syria, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, according to Caminando Fronteras,
The 2022 figures constitute half those recorded in the first six months of 2021, which reached 2,087 death and disappearance incidents among migrants. The organization attributes the drop in migration trends toward Spain to Morocco and the European country’s tightening of migration crossings.
The group notably blames the deaths on the migration policies of Morocco and Spain, saying that “these tragic events are the product of the implementation of the renewed security cooperation agreement between Spain and Morocco.”
