Three refugee boats with more than 300 people on board are missing in the Atlantic area between Africa and the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain. “We are very concerned,” says Helena Maleno of the Spanish aid organization “Caminando Fronteras” (frontier workers).
Two boats, each with up to 60 people on board, left Senegal for the Canary Islands on June 23, a third with about 200 people on June 27 from Kafountine, said Maleno of the Spanish aid agency, which is well-connected in Africa. The organization is in contact with relatives of the missing who have no news about the people on the boats.
Political persecution in Senegal
“We are very concerned because after the unrest in Senegal in June and because of the political persecution, people are even more willing to flee than usual,” Maleno told the German news agency. In June, 19 boats carrying refugees from Senegal arrived in the Canary Islands, while none had been registered since the beginning of the year. In addition, Spain only uses one search aircraft, which is only in the air for a few hours a day, Maleno criticized.
Lack of cooperation with Morocco
There is also a lack of cooperation with Morocco. “It only works in repelling refugees, but not in rescuing,” Maleno complained. “If 300 Germans went missing in the Atlantic, there would be a huge search operation,” she added.
Already counted 7278 migrants from Africa in the Canary Islands this year
Kafountine is located about 1700 kilometers from the Spanish archipelago and the Atlantic Ocean, with its strong currents and high waves, is considered one of the most dangerous escape routes to European countries. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, there were 7,278 migrants from Africa in the Canary Islands on July 2 this year. At least 778 people died on the Atlantic route in the first half of the year, according to Caminando Fronteras. However, the number of unreported cases is probably higher.
If fears that the boats have sunk are confirmed, it would be one of the worst accidents involving migrants at sea after a refugee boat sank off the Greek coast in mid-June, killing up to 500 people.
Source: Krone
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