UPDATE: One Of Three Missing Migrant Boats Located South Of Gran Canaria

Monday, July 10 at 10:00 pm

One of the migrant boats that was reported missing in the Atlantic Ocean has hopefully been located this Monday by Spain’s Salvamento Maritimo services.

As reported on its official Twitter account , one of its aircraft spotted a boat not far from the coast of the Canary Island of Gran Canaria.

‘A Sasemar 101 plane has located a vessel in the area where it was looking for the boat that left Senegal 2 weeks ago, about 71 miles south of Gran Canaria. They reported from the plane that there are about 200 people on board. The Guardamar Calliope and a merchant ship have been deployed’, read the post.

Avión Sasemar 101 ha localizado un cayuco en zona donde buscaba a la embarcación que salió hace 2 semanas de Senegal, a unas 71 millas al sur de Gran Canaria. Desde el avión han informado de que hay unas 200 personas a bordo. Movilizados Guardamar Calíope y un mercante. pic.twitter.com/FVlAmWFRfa

— SALVAMENTO MARÍTIMO (@salvamentogob) July 10, 2023

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Sunday, July 9 at 9:46 pm

At least 300 migrants heading for Spain’s Canary Islands in three boats are reported to be missing.

According to the aid organization Walking Borders , the vessels have not been seen for 15 days. Speaking with the Reuters news agency, Helena Maleno said all three boats originally departed from Kafountine in the African country of Senegal.

One of them had around 65 people on board she explained, while there were probably between 50 and 60 more on the second boat. On June 27, Maleno claimed that a third craft transporting some 200 migrants had also left Senegal.

Their families have not heard from any of them

Since leaving Senegal, none of the families has heard from anybody on board one of the three boats. ‘The families are very worried. There are about 300 people from the same area of ​​Senegal. They have left because of the instability in Senegal’, explained Maleno.

Due to their location off the West coast of Africa, the Canary Islands have become the main destination in recent years for migrants attempting to get to Spain. The distance from Kafountine to Tenerife is around 1,057 miles (1,700 km).

With the conditions in the Atlantic becoming calmer during the summer period, it makes the chances of covering the vast distance somewhat less dangerous. Some migrants attempt the longer trip to the Spanish mainland across the Mediterranean Sea .

Africa to the Canaries is one of the most dangerous routes in the world

According to data from the UN’s International Organization for Migration, the journey from sub-Saharan Africa – known as the Atlantic migration route – to the Canaries, is one of the most dangerous sea crossings in the world. In 2022, at least 559 people died attempting this route, including 22 children.

A report from Walking Borders (Caminando Fronteras) revealed that a total of 11,286 people died at the Spanish borders in the last five years.

With 951 migrants losing their lives attempting to reach Spanish shores in the first six months of 2023, that works out at five people dying each day pointed out the organization.

⚠️ Mueren 11.286 personas en las fronteras españolas en los últimos cinco años. Miles de familias han sido destrozadas por las políticas de control migratorio. #MasacreFrontera pic.twitter.com/AJ3grCBJGW

— Caminando Fronteras (@walkingborders) December 19, 2022