The year 2024 has ended with alarming statistics reflecting the tragic reality of increased migrant deaths at Spain's borders, particularly concerning the perilous routes leading to the Canary Islands. According to data released by the NGO Caminando Fronteras, at least 10,457 individuals died or went missing attempting to reach Spanish territory via irregular maritime paths over the past year. This shocking figure indicates a staggering 58 percent rise compared to 2023.
The Canary Islands, lying off the West African coast, bore the brunt of this migrant crisis. The majority of those who lost their lives —approximately 9,757 individuals—were attempting this treacherous crossing. Significant factors contributing to this crisis include the European Union's tightening grip on the migration routes through the central Mediterranean and the entrenched conflict in Mali, which has forced countless individuals to seek refuge through riskier maritime journeys. Migrants, often traveling on traditional wooden fishing boats known as cayucos, face journeys spanning days to weeks, frequently under dire conditions fueled by mechanical failures and insufficient supplies.
T. D., a survivor from Mali, witnessed the harrowing fate of fellow travelers. “The boat began to drift; we were being carried away by the waves,” he recounted. His story is just one among many detailing the dire circumstances migrants encounter. With food and water running out, he described painful scenes: “I told him not to drink seawater, to hold on, but he kept drinking, then vomiting … I couldn’t bring myself to throw his body overboard.” This tragic narrative underlines not just individual loss but the massive system failures leading to these crises.
The case of another group of nearly 200 people who set sail from Mbour, Senegal, only to be discovered drifting off Dakar weeks later — thirty bodies already decomposing aboard — starkly highlights the tragic consequences of current border policies. Meanwhile, new victims surfaced this December, with six unidentified individuals found buried on El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, having succumbed to hypothermia during their perilous crossing.
The systemic issues behind these tragedies reflect broader European migration policies. Caminando Fronteras emphasizes how these policies dehumanize and criminalize migrants, rendering their lives expendable. “These [border] policies are based on dehumanizing and criminalizing migrants, leaving them vulnerable to human rights violations,” their report states. This shift calls attention to how such fatal outcomes are not merely unfortunate events but rather byproducts of the European approach to migration, which prioritizes border security over lives.
Juan Carlos Lorenzo, the Canaries coordinator for the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, articulated this point when he stated, “Human migration, particularly when it involves enforced displacement, is unstoppable.” This rings especially true as policies seemingly aimed at containing migration have simply redirected flows to more dangerous routes like those from Senegal and Mauritania to the Canaries.
Xavier Creach, the UN high commissioner for refugees, described how armed conflict and tighter European borders have forced many, especially Malians, to seek new pathways, often through even more hazardous routes. “The EU policy of outsourcing border security… might temporarily contain migrant flows… but such temporary reductions are only achieved by pushing people toward alternative points along the EU's southern border.”
Despite the concerning increase of over 46,000 migrants arriving on the Canary Islands this year — 20 percent higher than 2023 and the highest figure recorded in thirty years — Spain and the EU’s response has largely been to intensify border control, spending €500 million on measures purportedly aimed at curbing migration. This funding has led to partnerships with countries like Mauritania, which has seen its security services employing harsh practices against migrants, including arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment.
Tragically, the failure to provide proper search and rescue operations has been deadly. Caminando Fronteras has documented at least 150 cases where lack of action from rescue services directly led to loss of life. One survivor recounted how his cayuco drifted for ten days between territorial zones without receiving help, resulting in twenty-eight deaths. “The main thing is to stop them reaching Spain, nothing else matters,” noted one politician, underscoring the level of neglect and intentionality behind these policies.
The disappeared migrants often leave no trace, with fewer than four percent of bodies ever recovered, and even then, less than half identified. This leads to nameless graves across Spanish coasts, with families left bereaved and uncertain about their loved ones' fates. “We are talking about collective disappearances,” stated Helena Maleno of Caminando Fronteras, exposing the systemic failures of both Spanish and European authorities who do not prioritize human life.
With their policies effectively transforming search and rescue services merely to act as tools for border restraint, the mounting death toll at sea poses unanswered ethical questions about the direction of Europe’s migration strategies. A proposed EU migration pact aims to bolster deportations of irregular migrants and complicate the rights of those rescued at sea, risking exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis. If the trend of increasing mortal risks continues along the Atlantic routes, 2024 could tragically confirm this sea crossing as the deadliest migration route globally.
It is imperative for European leaders to recognize the urgency of reforming their approach to migration, offering safer routes instead of reinforcing deadly policies. Until genuine reforms are enacted, it appears the tide of tragedy will only continue to rise.