Sixteen migrants remained missing at sea a day after Spain's coastguard rescued a boat off the Canary Islands carrying about 40 survivors and a body, a government spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"According to testimony from the 40 migrants who were rescued ... another 16 people fell into the water off Fuerteventura," the spokeswoman told AFP, referring to one of the islands on the Atlantic archipelago.
The rescue took place about 35 kilometres south of Fuerteventura, which is the closest island to the African coastline from which many boats set sail in a bid to reach European soil.
Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish NGO that helps migrant boats in distress, said 4,404 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain last year, up from 2,170 in 2020.
It was the highest yearly number since the group began keeping records in 2015. Many of the bodies are never found.
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A child clutching a teddy steps ashore in Dover, Kent, southern England, accompanied by Border Force officers after being rescued from a small boat trying to cross the English Channel. PA -
Migrants arrive at Dover on a Royal National Lifeboat Institution vessel, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. Despite it being midwinter, migrant crossings resumed this week after a period of bad weather led to a pause. Reuters -
Migrants clamber aboard a flimsy inflatable dinghy as they prepare to leave Wimereux, near Calais, north France, heading for England. Reuters -
A group of people, thought to be migrants, at Dungeness lifeboat station, Kent. AP Photo -
More than 26,000 people have made the dangerous journey from France to England in 2021, three times more than in 2020. In November, 27 people were drowned when a migrant boat sunk during the crossing. AP Photo -
Migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, by the RNLI. AP Photo -
Inflatable boats, believed to have been used by migrants who crossed the English Channel from France, stored near Dover. Reuters -
Migrants disembark from an RNLI lifeboat on arrival in Dover, after being picked up at sea. AFP -
A group of migrants prepare to launch an overcrowded inflatable dinghy from the French coast, near Calais, heading for England. Reuters
According to figures compiled by the International Organisation for Migration's Missing Migrants Project, at least 1,176 people died or went missing in 2021 on the Canary Islands route, while at least 384 others were lost in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Spain from Morocco and Algeria.
Last year, 40,100 migrants managed to reach Spain by sea, Interior Ministry figures show, almost the same as the number who arrived a year earlier.
