Walking Borders, a migrant rights organization, claimed Thursday that up to 50 migrants may have perished while trying to get from West Africa to Spain by boat.
According to the Madrid and Navarra-based nonprofit, Moroccan police on Wednesday rescued 36 individuals from a boat that had left Mauritania on January 2 and had carried 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis.
According to the rights group, it reported the missing boat to authorities in all participating nations six days ago.
On January 12, Spain’s marine rescue department was notified by Alarm Phone, an NGO that arranges an emergency phone line for migrants who are trapped at sea.
According to the service, it had no information on the boat.
Regional head of the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo said he was saddened by the deaths and called on Spain and Europe to take action to stop other tragedies, citing the Walking Borders’ statement on social media site X.
Clavijo stated on X that the Atlantic “cannot continue to be the graveyard of Africa.” “They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian drama.”
In a post on X, Helena Maleno, CEO of Walking Borders, stated that 44 of the drowning victims were from Pakistan.
“They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she stated.
Walking Borders reports that a record 10,457 migrants, or 30 individuals every day, perished in 2024 while attempting to enter Spain, the majority of them were trying to traverse the Atlantic route from West African nations like Senegal and Mauritania to the Canary islands.
Over 40 Pakistanis were allegedly among the 80 people killed after a boat transporting them overturned close to Morocco, according to confirmation from Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday.
According to a FO press release today, the ministry was notified of the event by the Pakistani embassy in Rabat. In a camp close to Dakhla, a number of survivors—including Pakistanis—are staying. Local authorities are in contact with our embassy in Rabat. A team from the embassy has also been sent to Dakhla to help the Pakistani citizens and offer the support they require. According to the FO, the Crisis Management Unit was formed, and Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister and deputy prime minister, gave government agencies instructions to provide all assistance to the impacted Pakistanis.
Additionally, it stated that Acting Ambassador Rabia Kasuri and Consular Assistant Noman Ali in the Rabat embassy could be reached via WhatsApp at (+212 689 52 23 65) and (+92 310 2204672), respectively, while the CMU could be reached at (051-9207887) or (cmu1@mofa.gov.pk).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, meantime, promised tough measures against individuals engaged in the horrible practice of human trafficking and asked authorities for a report on the occurrence. “In this regard, any form of carelessness will not be accepted. In a statement, he stated, “Strong action is being taken against human trafficking.”
In addition to expressing sorrow over the deaths of more than 40 Pakistanis, President Asif Ali Zardari emphasized the necessity of comprehensive and successful steps to stop human trafficking.