MADRID – Up to 50 migrants attempting to reach Spain from West Africa may have drowned, according to the migrant rights group Walking Borders, which reported the incident on Thursday. The group revealed that Moroccan authorities rescued 36 individuals from a boat that had departed from Mauritania on January 2. The boat, originally carrying 86 migrants, included 66 Pakistanis.
Walking Borders stated that they had alerted the relevant authorities about the missing boat six days prior to the rescue.
According to relatives of the deceased Pakistani migrants, the human traffickers had halted the boat in the sea, demanding additional money before continuing the journey.
Alarm Phone, an NGO offering an emergency line for migrants lost at sea, reported that it alerted Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12. However, the service claimed it had no information about the boat.
Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, expressed his sorrow on the social media platform X, urging Spain and Europe to take action to prevent further tragedies. “The Atlantic cannot continue to be the graveyard of Africa,” Clavijo said. “They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian drama.”
Helena Maleno, CEO of Walking Borders, posted on X that 44 of those who drowned were from Pakistan. “They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she lamented.
According to Walking Borders, a record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died attempting to reach Spain in 2024, most while traversing the perilous Atlantic route from West African countries like Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed the boat’s capsizing near the Moroccan port of Dakhla, carrying 80 passengers. A team from the Rabat Embassy has been dispatched to assist the Pakistani nationals and provide necessary support. “The Crisis Management Unit (CMU) in the Foreign Ministry has been activated,” the statement read. “The deputy prime minister and foreign minister have instructed relevant agencies to offer all possible facilitation to the affected Pakistanis.”
This tragic incident follows a similar disaster last month, where over 80 Pakistanis drowned after boats capsized near Greece. Although 36 Pakistani citizens were rescued, the rest are presumed dead, as per a report from the Pakistani Embassy.
The boats from Libya’s Tobruk port also carried nationals from Bangladesh, Egypt, and Sudan. In response to these tragedies, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief over the loss of lives. Prime Minister Shehbaz has called for a comprehensive report on the incident and vowed strict action against those involved in human smuggling. He emphasized that negligence would not be tolerated and announced stringent measures against human trafficking.
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