Hundreds of migrants were rescued this week when three boats capsized in the waters between northwest Africa and Spain’s Canary Islands, killing at least two people and leaving many more missing, according to Spanish officials and campaigners.
The coast guard of Spain announced Thursday afternoon that it had rescued 61 individuals and transported them to Arguinegun, a port on the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. Earlier that day, it announced the rescue of 46 men, seven women, and one minor east of Costa Teguise, the island chain’s easternmost port.
According to reports a total of 227 people were rescued.
The incidents come as the number of migrants crossing into Europe has increased in recent years, especially on the route to the Canary Islands, with most coming from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
Separately, Moroccan authorities directed the rescue of another group of 24 people near the Canary Islands, Spanish authorities said Wednesday. The bodies of a man and a child were also found.
After receiving a distress call from the rubber dinghy, a Spanish official told the Associated Press that a plane was sent to check on it but then reported that it showed no signs of trouble. The boat, however, subsequently sank and a Moroccan merchant ship rescued 24 of those on board.
According to a survey issued by The Global Initiative, a Switzerland-based think tank, the number of migrants going from West and North Africa to the Canary Islands has increased in recent years, reaching 60,000 from January 2020 to October 2022. This was an increase from 9,500 between 2009 and 2019. According to the report, an additional unknown number of migrants have perished at sea.
So far this year, close to 82,000 migrants have come to Europe, while 1,380 either perished or went missing along the way, according to the U.N. migration agency. Last year, almost 190,000 arrived while close to 3,000 people died or went missing.
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