The number of victims on migratory routes to Spain grew 58 % in 2024, according to Caminando Borders.
«The good Chinese is closer to me than the bad Spanish. I sing to Spain and I feel it to the core, but before this I am a man of the world and brother of all. Of course, I don’t believe in political borders. Luis García Montero, director of the Cervantes Institute, quoted García Lorca to open the presentation of the latest report by the organization Caminando Bordras, Monitoring of the right to life 2024, that denounces what happens on the Western Euro -African border with whom they migrate to improve their life and that of their families. The report, which prioritizes the rescue over the control of borders, confirms that in 2024 there has been a 58 % increase in victims on migratory routes from Africa to Spain compared to the previous year. «2024 has become the deadliest year since we have records, with devastating figures: 10 457 dead or missing people, an average of 30 lost lives every day. Among the victims, 421 women and 1,538 girls, boys and adolescents, ”said the Coordinator of the Helena Maleno organization.
The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is the most lethal in the world. 71 % of the documented tragedies occurred on this journey, with most majority of Mauritania. Mediterranean routes also reflect high mortality rates that show that migratory policies continue to fail. «In 69 % of the tragedies (…) there was a direct inaction of the search and rescue services, either because they were not activated, either because there was a delay or because that relationship between the countries was not activated to protect the right to the right to the Life, despite in many cases (…) to know where there was a shipwreck, ”said Maleno. The document exposes some cases of uncoordination and lack of will on the part of Spain, Morocco and Mauritania.
The report pays special attention to the situation of women, who suffer disproportionate levels of violence and lack of protection during their paths by land and sea, facing risks such as exploitation, desert deportations, systematic sexual violence or collection by trafficking networks. The criminalization and invisibility of migrant childhood is also denounced, more treated as a problem of migratory control than as a subject of law with special protection. Hate speeches against them oppose international principles and increase the physical and verbal aggressions that often suffer.
A chapter of the report is dedicated to the relatives of the victims and the missing persons, who play a fundamental role in the documentation and denunciation of the cases. “This report (…) against impunity would not be possible without the courage and resistance of the seeking families, which are increasingly present in the Spanish State and that increasingly raise their highest voice,” said Maleno. However, the search effort and the requirement of accountability are usually hindered by the lack of institutional support and criminalization.
In addition to presenting data, walking borders demands an urgent structural change towards policies focused on life protection, the implementation of efficient search protocols and the elimination of the criminalization of solidarity.
In the image, July 24, 2024. T -shirt of a died migrant person on a Nuakchot beach (Mauritania). In the shipwreck, 15 people officially perished and dozens disappeared. From anonymity, some sources confirmed the recovery of 25 corpses and the rescue of 103 people. Photography: Med Lemin Rajel/Getty
