In 2024, more than 10,000 migrants tragically lost their lives while trying to reach Spain, a harrowing increase of over 50% compared to the previous year. This alarming figure, reported by the Spanish non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders), highlights the continuing dangers faced by migrants attempting perilous sea routes to Europe.
The group’s “Monitoring the Right to Life – 2024” report, released this week, states that 10,457 people, including 1,538 children and 421 women, died trying to reach Spanish shores. These victims came from 28 predominantly African countries, as well as from places as far as Iraq and Pakistan. The report underscores the deepening crisis, with a significant spike in fatalities—an average of 30 deaths per day in 2024, up from 18 the previous year.
Helena Maleno, the founder of Caminando Fronteras, condemned the situation, calling it an “unacceptable tragedy” and attributing the rising death toll to the failure of international rescue and protection systems. Maleno pointed to the profound gaps in efforts to protect vulnerable migrants as they attempt to cross treacherous seas in search of safety and opportunity.
Routes and Regional Analysis
The report breaks down the migrant deaths across the most dangerous migration routes to Spain:
- The Atlantic Route, the deadliest in the world, accounted for 9,757 of the fatalities. This route, which leads from North and West Africa to the Canary Islands, saw an increase in tragedies, particularly along the Mauritanian coastline, now a primary departure point for migrants.
- The Mediterranean, specifically the Algerian route, recorded 517 deaths. Other Mediterranean routes, such as the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea, also contributed to the overall toll, with 110 and 73 deaths respectively.
- 131 vessels were lost during the year, with all people on board presumed dead.
Despite the alarming number of lives lost, Spain saw a record high of 57,738 migrants successfully reaching its shores by sea by December 15, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. However, Caminando Fronteras has sharply criticized the inadequate rescue operations and the prioritization of border control over migrant safety.
Root Causes of the Crisis
The report attributes the rising fatalities to a combination of factors, including the lack of rescue operations at sea, the criminalization of social organizations and families attempting to assist migrants, and the externalization of European borders to countries that lack the resources to properly manage them. The report also emphasizes the role of systemic violence, discrimination, and extreme vulnerability that force migrants to risk their lives in dangerous conditions.
Caminando Fronteras stresses the persecution and stigmatization faced by organizations and individuals who document these tragedies. The group points out that while the death toll continues to rise, the voices of the victims are too often silenced by bureaucracy and political indifference, with their deaths going unaddressed by those responsible.
A Call for Justice
The organization’s findings serve as a powerful reminder of the ongoing migrant crisis, urging governments and international bodies to take immediate action to prevent further loss of life. “The dead migrants’ voices can be heard,” the report concludes, “crying out at their disappearance and death, questioning their fate, and calling for justice and an end to impunity.”
This stark reality paints a grim picture of the risks and systemic failures that continue to shape the migration journey. The human cost of this crisis is immeasurable, and until effective and humane solutions are found, the number of lives lost will only continue to rise.
Picture by prostooleh on Freepik
Source: Brett Wilkins
