Fifty migrants, including several Pakistanis, die as boat sinks towards Spain

 Thursday, January 16, 2025

Islamabad (Point News Today / Pakistan Point News - DW News - 16 January 2025) The migrant rights group Walking Borders said on Thursday that 50 migrants have died after a boat carrying migrants trying to reach Spain from West Africa capsized.

Eight migrants, including six children, died after the boat capsized in the Aegean Sea

The group Walking Borders, based in Madrid and Navarra, said the boat had set off from Mauritania on January 2 and sank en route.

It has been reported that Moroccan authorities rescued 36 migrants from the boat that capsized on Wednesday. It has been reported that there were 86 migrants on board the boat, including 66 Pakistanis.

Record deaths last year

The total number of people who died trying to reach Spain by boat in 2024 was 10,457.

That means 30 people a day are losing their lives trying to reach Spain. According to Walking Borders, most of these migrants drowned while trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean via West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to reach the Canary Islands. The group added that the authorities of all the relevant countries had been informed about the missing boat six days ago.

Mozambique: At least 96 people died after the boat capsized

Alarmphone, another NGO that provides an emergency phone line for migrants lost at sea, said that the Spanish maritime border was alerted on January 12.

The rescue service said it had no information about the boat.

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Canary Islands leader's statement

Canary Islands regional leader Fernando Clavejo, referring to a post by Walking Borders on social media platform X, expressed his condolences to the victims of the accident and urged Spain and Europe to take effective measures to prevent such tragedies.

He said in a post on social media platform X, "The Ocean cannot become the graveyard of Africa." Fernando Clavejo added, "They cannot turn their backs on such humanitarian tragedies."

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Meanwhile, Walking Borders CEO Helena Malino wrote in her post on X, "44 of those who drowned were from Pakistan. "They spent 13 days in agony while crossing this crossing. No one came to save them."