Authorities and migrant activists said Thursday, August 17, that they suspect more than 60 migrants died or still missing after a Spanish fishing crew rescued a boat near the Atlantic island of Cape Verde with more than 100 people onboard.
Month-Long Risky Trip to Spain
Safa Msehli, a representative for the International Organization for Migration, claimed seven corpses had been recovered aboard the boat and that 56 people were missing and believed drowned at sea. Senegal's foreign ministry said earlier that 38 people had been saved in Cape Verde, which is located around 620 kilometers (385 miles) off the coast of West Africa.
According to the Spanish migrant advocacy organization Walking Borders, the ship was a big fishing boat called a pirogue that departed Senegal on July 10.
In a report by AP News, the families in Fass Boye, a coastal village located 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of the capital Dakar, contacted Walking Borders on July 20 after not hearing from their loved ones aboard the boat for ten days. The group's founder, Helena Maleno Garzón, said the families had been worried about the safety of their relatives and friends.
After being rescued, survivors reportedly phoned home from Cape Verde, according to Cheikh Awa Boye, head of the local fishing organization.
After finding a Senegalese canoe floating northeast of Cape Verde on August 14, a Spanish fishing vessel called the Zillarri rescued people and retrieved corpses. This was verified by the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service.
The Zillarri is operated by PEVASA, a business that specializes in catching tropical tuna. A company representative stated the survivors were pleading for assistance and were in bad condition.
Escaping Political Instability, Violent Groups, Etc.
Migrants leaving Senegal in flimsy wooden boats to make the perilous journey from West Africa to Spain have increased dramatically over the last year. The boats set out for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa that has historically served as a gateway to the European mainland.
Walking Borders estimates that in the first half of 2023, about one thousand migrants perished at sea while attempting to reach Spain.
Migrants from all across West Africa are forced to take the risky journey across the ocean in unsafe, overloaded boats due to rising youth unemployment, political turmoil, armed group violence, and climate change.
According to data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, about 10,000 migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands from the northwest coast of Africa by sea so far this year.
According to an AP News report from 2021, at least seven migrant boats from northwest Africa had gotten lost in the Atlantic and were discovered floating across the Caribbean and even off the coast of Brazil with just dead corpses on board.
