MIGRANT BOAT CAPSIZING OFF MAURITANIA KILLS AT LEAST 89

Fri 05 July 2024:

At least 89 migrants and refugees heading for Europe have died, with dozens more missing, after their boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania, state media reports.

The fishing boat overturned on Monday about 4km (2.4 miles) from the southwestern coastal city of Ndiago in Mauritania. The Mauritanian coastguard recovered 89 bodies and rescued nine people, including a five-year-old girl, according to a statement from the state news agency on Thursday.

Survivors reported that the boat had departed from the border between Senegal and Gambia with 170 people on board, suggesting that 72 are still missing. A senior government official confirmed this information to AFP news agency.

The boat capsized due to strong winds and high waves on the perilous Atlantic route, known for its strong currents. Migrants often travel in overloaded and unseaworthy boats with insufficient drinking water.

Earlier this year, the European Union pledged 210 million euros ($229 million) in financial support to Mauritania, a former French colony, to address migration issues and provide humanitarian aid for migrants.

This agreement came in response to a sharp rise in the number of migrants departing from Mauritania towards Spain’s Canary Islands, located about 100km (62 miles) off the northwest coast of Africa.

According to Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish charity, more than 5,000 people died trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year, averaging 33 deaths per day. The majority of these deaths occurred on the Atlantic route.

Deadly Land Routes Highlighted in UN Report

Increasingly, migrants are opting for dangerous land routes, with fatalities in the Sahara estimated to be twice those at sea, according to a new report from the United Nations refugee and migration agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre research group.

“Refugees and migrants are increasingly traversing areas controlled by insurgent groups, militias, and other criminal actors, where human trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, forced labour, and sexual exploitation are rampant,” stated the report, released on Friday.

The report, which compiled data over three years, indicated that conflict and instability in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sudan are driving more journeys towards the Mediterranean.

From January 2020 to May 2024, 1,180 people are known to have died crossing the Sahara desert, though the actual toll is believed to be much higher, according to the report, which is based on testimonies from over 31,000 people.

This year alone, more than 72,000 people have traveled via land routes to the Mediterranean, with 785 dying or going missing during that time, according to figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Libya has emerged as a major transit point for those fleeing war and poverty. In March, authorities found a mass grave containing at least 65 bodies in the western deserts of the country.

Respondents identified Algeria, Libya, and Ethiopia as the most dangerous transit countries.

The report documented hundreds of cases of organ removals, with some migrants consenting to the procedure to earn money. However, many were drugged and had organs removed without their consent, said UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel. “They wake up, and a kidney is missing,” he explained.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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