Published
On Saturday evening, forty-four immigrants died in the sinking of their boat while attempting to reach the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries.
The boat, carrying about sixty migrants, crashed in Tarfaya, Morocco.
AFP / file photo
The Spanish NGO said on Saturday evening that at least 44 migrants, including women and children, had drowned in a boat sinking in Darbaya, southern Morocco. Cominando Franteras. It was not possible on Sunday to seek confirmation from Moroccan officials.
Among the victims were “three women and two children (their bodies) in the Loyon morgue”, the western Sahara’s main city, in a tweet dated Saturday, the NGO establishing its balance sheet based on survivors’ testimony. Families of immigrants.
According to Cominando Frenderas, a total of 61 people were on board the inflatable boat heading for the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, about 100 kilometers from Tarfaya.
Transport country
On January 16, 43 immigrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, died in a shipwreck in Tarfaya, according to the Spanish Association, along with three children and 14 women. Morocco, located in the northwestern tip of Africa, is a transportation country for many immigrants seeking to reach Europe from the Atlantic or Mediterranean coasts.
By 2021, 4,404 migrants had died or disappeared by sea trying to reach Spain, more than twice as many as in 2020, the worst number since 2015, according to Caminando Fronteras, most bodies have not been found.
Extended collaboration
According to the latest figures from the Spanish Interior Ministry, more than 40,000 migrants, mostly from Morocco, arrived in the country by sea in 2021, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands.
The European Union said this week it wants to “expand” its cooperation with Morocco, at a time when Spain is facing the arrival of migrants in its Melilla (northeastern part of the country).
We learned from the port police that hundreds of migrants, mostly Afghans, who were in distress near the Greek island of Baros on Sunday by the Greek Coast Guard were rescued from the boat. According to preliminary information, all the passengers were safely transferred to the Greek port police ship and taken to the port of Burroughs, where they are to be tested for the corona virus.
Greek port police say a sailing boat carrying migrants has left the western Turkish coast and headed for Italy. Greek officials have not yet decided the final location of their transfer by noon Sunday.
(AFP)