The non-governmental organization Walking Borders has reported that a boat full of migrants sank near Western Sahara.
Overturned Boat (File Photo)
A ferry full of migrants that had left from the coastal city of Dakhla in Western Sahara sank in the sea. About 42 migrants, including 30 women and eight children, died in this accident. Spanish rights activists gave this information. Helena Maleno, the founder of the non-governmental organization Walking Borders, tweeted late on Thursday that she spoke to one of the 10 people who survived the accident, who told that the group of migrants had reached Spain’s Canary Islands. was trying to.
Moroccan officials present in Dakhla have yet to comment in this regard. However, according to local media, 12 bodies were recovered from the beach on Thursday while 10 people were rescued by fishermen. It is noteworthy that Morocco occupied the Western Sahara region in 1975 and it has been claiming this disputed area since then. The Polisario Front is demanding independence of the region. The Moroccan navy had rescued 30 migrants in the north along the western Sahara coast, the official MAP news agency reported on Thursday.
Boat accidents have been happening in the Atlantic region
Navy ships are still searching for 59 others, including 14 women and four children, in the waters hundreds of miles from Dakhla. In addition, the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service said on Friday that it had rescued 63 people off the Canary Islands. Migrant deaths are not uncommon in the Atlantic region, which separates the west coast of Africa and the Canary Islands of Spain. But this is the most recent boat accident in which a large number of women and children were involved.
250 migrants died in six months of this year
It is often difficult to identify the wreckage of ships going to the Canary on the West African route. Most of the victims’ bodies never recover. The United Nations Migration Agency has reported that at least 250 migrants died en route to the Canary Islands in the first six months of 2021. While in the meantime, Walking Borders informed about the death of more victims. He told that about two thousand migrants have died on this route. According to the IOM, there was also an increase of 156 percent in Canary Islands visits in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year.
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