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86 people rescued off Canary Islands coast in search for missing migrant boat
The larger vessel, carrying around 200 passengers, has been missing off the coast of Spain for more than two weeks
Hundreds of Senegalese migrants are still missing in Spain’s coastal waters after at least four boats embarked on the treacherous journey from sub-Saharan Africa more than two weeks ago.
A large vessel carrying around 200 people, many of them children, is believed to have set sail for Spain from Kafountine on June 27, a coastal town just 1,700 kilometres from Tenerife. But the boat disappeared as it approached the Spanish coast, and maritime rescuers have been searching for it for days.
But on Monday July 10, the coastguard spotted a boat around 70 nautical miles south-west of the Canary Islands and 86 migrants – 80 men and six women, were brought safely to shore. This patera left Senegal on June 23, four days before the bigger vessel.
However, according to migrant aid group Walking Borders, two other small boats carrying more than 120 men, women and children, are still missing at sea.
Just last month, an inflatable dinghy carrying an estimated 60 migrants, sank en route to the Canary Islands from Morocco. More than 35 people, including one minor, lost their lives in the tragedy.
Each year, thousands of desperate citizens from Morocco, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast and other sub-Saharan nations take their lives into their hands to make the dangerous voyage to the Canary Islands, usually in ill-equipped boats with few supplies.
In 2022, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that at least 559 migrants perished while trying to reach the Spanish Islands, but that death toll could be much higher. On the other hand, 30% fewer migrants made the journey to the Canaries in 2022 compared to the previous year, thanks in large part to tighter border controls.
"Despite the year-to-year decrease, flows along this dangerous route since 2020 remain high compared to prior years," the IOM says.
Image: Salvamento Maritimo
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