A complete of 951 migrants died making an attempt to succeed in Spain within the first half of 2023, based on a report printed Thursday by the Walking Borders group.
The victims got here from 14 nations — from Morroco to Congo, Syria to Sudan to Sri Lanka, based on the report.
Most perished through the Atlantic voyage to the Canary Islands. An estimated 778 died on the route, together with all passengers on 19 vessels, making it one of many deadliest migration routes on the earth.
Included within the determine are an estimated 36 individuals who died in June within the waters between Spain and Morocco. Their rubber dinghy had been sending messages of assist for greater than 10 hours earlier than assist arrived, based on Walking Borders, although a Spanish coast guard ship was lower than one hour away.
Walking Borders made an official request Thursday for a legal investigation into the inaction across the tragedy.
“We spent hours waiting, begging, we called everywhere, Spain’s coast guards, the Moroccan navy, we sent positions, but no one came. The sea is very big and very scary,” a sufferer recognized as F.B. was quoted within the report. “The children were crying a lot, we had no water … I saw them dying in front of me, they were falling into the sea.”
“When the rescue arrived, it was too late. The Moroccans threw us in the desert, I had burns and they got infected, thank God I am alive. We only have God left when everyone wants to kill us,” stated F.B.
Although Spain’s Interior Ministry has reported that arrivals to the Canary Islands decreased round 20% in comparison with final yr, Walking Borders stated the variety of deaths on the identical route has remained the identical.
“The politics of death have been in place for a long time on the border. But we also detected an increase in impunity in the face of rising mortality rates, which leaves victims and their families without access to reparations and justice,” the pinnacle of Walking Borders, Helena Maleno Garzon, stated in an announcement.
Besides those that perished making an attempt to succeed in the Canary Islands, 50 died making an attempt to cross the Gibraltar Straight, and 123 died whereas crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco or Algeria.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
