Record toll for migrants missing at sea: Spanish NGO

A Spain-based migrants rights group said on Thursday that a record number of 10,547 migrants died or disappeared attempting to reach Spain by sea in 2024.

Caminando Fronteras or Walking Borders said that the figure was over 50% the number seen in 2023.

"Our Right to Life 2024 report documents the deadliest period on record, with devastating figures averaging 30 deaths a day. The victims include 421 women and 1,538 children and adolescents,” Walking Borders said.

In 2023 there had been 18 deaths per day recorded by the group.

'Right to life' not being prioritized — NGO

Walking Borders denounced what it saw as the main causes of the increase in shipwrecks and victims.

The group said that there was an omission of the duty to rescue and that migrant control was being prioritized over "the right to life.”

"These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy," the group's founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.

'Atlantic route' the deadliest

The group said that the Atlantic route remained the deadliest with 9,757 deaths and that there had been an increased number of tragedies recorded on the Mauritania route which had emerged as a key departure point for the Canary Islands.

This was followed by the Algerian route in the Mediterranean with 517 victims recorded.

The group's data is compiled from hotlines set up for migrants who find themselves in trouble at sea and call for help, families who report relatives as missing and from official rescue statistics.

Spain's interior ministry says more than 57, 700 migrants reached Spain by boat until December 15 this year, a roughly 12% increase from the same period last year. The vast majority of them came through the Atlantic route.

kb/rm (AFP, AP)