ARCHIVED - 140 migrants die at sea attempting to enter Spain illegally via the Canary Islands

Over 400 dead so far this year on voyages from western Africa to the Canary Islands

The British media has dedicated significant coverage to the deaths of two young children who were amongst a group of refugees trying to cross the Channel between France and the UK this week, but the deaths of irregular migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean goes virtually unreported most of the time, with drownings and starvation frequent occurrences as thousands seek to enter Europe every year.

At least 140 unauthorized migrants are now known to have died when the boat in which they were attempting to reach Spanish territory sank off the coast of Senegal, the highest death toll recorded in such an incident so far this year (according to the OIM international migration organization).

The boat set sail for the Canary Islands from M’Bour in Senegal on 24th October with around 200 passengers, but after just a few hours a fire broke out on board and it sank near the coastal town of Saint-Louis in the north-east of the country. Only 59 people were rescued alive by official Senegalese and Spanish boats and fishing vessels, and so far at least 20 dead bodies have been recovered.

This year has seen a spectacular increase in the number of African migrants attempting to reach EU territory in the Canaries, and unfortunately this is far from being the first incident of its kind in recent times. Within the last fortnight at least another 50 people lost their lives when another boat on which they were trying to travel from Senegal to the Canaries suffered an engine failure and remained adrift in the Atlantic, according to the security forces of Mauritania.

Details of this tragedy have been reported by survivors who were rescued by Mauritanian coastguards before being taken ashore in Nouadhibou, and it transpires that the boar set out with around 80 people on board. As they drifted at sea they began to die one by one, and by the time they managed to direct the craft towards the coast the survivors numbered only 27.

Reacting to these latest tragedies, Bakary Doumbia, the head of OIM in Senegal, has called for unity in the international community to put an end to people trafficking and to prevent mafias from taking advantage of the “desperate young people” looking for a better life in southern Europe. Mr Doumbia also stressed the importance of introducing legal means of preventing the kind of business which results in the deaths of so many people.

At the same time, the OIM has warned of a “significant” increase in the number of boats embarking on the route from western Africa to the Canaries. In September alone they report that 14 boats set sail carrying a total of 663 people, and it is estimated that so far this year as many as 11,000 have reached the islands.

This total is vastly higher than that of 2,557 in the equivalent period last year, and although it is still some way short of the 32,000 who undertook the voyage in 2006 it is also known that at least 414 migrants and refugees have died before reaching their destination.
Image; Archive. Spanish marine rescue services