Caminando Fronteras informs of another tragedy at sea whilst migrants head to the Canary Islands. A boat sank off the coast of Dakhla (Western Sahara). 42 people died. This is the second sinking in a week, with at least three people dying on Wednesday.
Caminando Fronteras is an NGO working for the defence of the rights of people and communities on the move. In their report on the first half of 2021, the collective states at least 1922 people lost their lives on the treacherous route to the Canaries.
Three migrant boat instances this week
Two sinkings this week have seen at least 45 people die. 42 drowned in the sinking off the coast of Dakhla. On Wednesday, three people died when a boat carrying 75 people sank off the coast of Laayoune.
The latter coincided with the discovery of a boat with 63 immigrants on board. Spotted by a pleasure boat only 15 kilometres from the coast of Gran Canaria, maritime rescue intercepted the boat and took them to the port of Arguineguín.
Onboard were 8 babies, another 4 children, 33 women and 18 men. All the babies transferred to the Maternal and Child Hospital in Las Palmas. One of the babies is in a serious condition with severe dehydration.
Increase in irregular migrants compared to 2020
The Canarian Weekly reports the arrival of irregular immigrants to Spain so far in 2021 has reached 16,586 people from January 1st to August 1st.
Of those 7,531 of them were going to the Canary Islands. This is 48.4% more than in the same period of 2020 when there were 11,177.
