ANNOUNCEMENTS•
Thirteen bodies were recovered off the southwest coast of Morocco after the boat carrying the migrants sank. The boat was on its way to the Spanish Canary Islands, Moroccan media reported.
The boat left the southwestern port of Mirleft yesterday with 45 passengers on board. The boat, bound for Las Palmas, hit a rock 10 minutes after departure and sank, writes the Moroccan news site Hespress.
This made it possible to save 24 people from the water, including a child. Eight passengers are still missing.
11,000 migrants died
The Moroccan information service 2M reports that it was a dinghy. According to Hespress, the passengers had paid between 1770 and 2235 euros per person for the crossing.
Due to its location, Morocco is a popular transit point for many migrants, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa. They want to reach Europe from the country across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
More than 11,000 migrants have died or disappeared trying to reach Spain since 2018, an average of six a day, according to a recent report by the Spanish human rights organization Caminando Fronteras (Frontline Defenders). On the route between Morocco and the Canary Islands, 7,692 of these died, the human rights group said.
Spain’s Interior Ministry reported earlier this month (PDF) that nearly 28,000 migrants have entered Spanish territory illegally by sea this year. 15,742 of them made it to the Canary Islands.
