MADRID (Reuters) – Migrant aid group Border Walkers said on Sunday that at least 300 people who had been traveling on three migrant boats from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands have disappeared.
Helena Maleno of Walking Borders told Reuters that two boats, one carrying about 65 people and the other with between 50 and 60 on board, have been missing for the past 15 days since they left Senegal in an attempt to reach Spain.
A third boat left Senegal on 27 June with about 200 people on board.
Maleno said the families of those on the ship had not heard from them since they left.
The three boats left Cavontin in southern Senegal, which is about 1,700 kilometers (1,057 miles) from Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.
“The families are very worried. There are about 300 people from the same area in Senegal. They left because of the instability in Senegal,” Malenoux said.
The Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Spain, with a much smaller number also seeking to cross the Mediterranean to the Spanish mainland. Summer is the busiest period for all transit attempts.
Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa usually use the trans-Atlantic migration route, which is one of the deadliest routes in the world. At least 559 people — including 22 children — died in 2022 trying to reach the Canary Islands, according to data from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.