An unprecedented nearly 5,000 migrants have died at sea in the first five months of 2024 trying to reach the Spanish Canary Islands, according to a report released by migration rights group Walking Borders on Wednesday.
Between Jan. 1 and May 31, 4,808 people died on the Atlantic voyage to the Canaries after departing from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, making it the deadliest route between Africa and Spain, with 95% of migrant deaths, according to the group.
Arrivals to the archipelago in that period soared five times to over 16,500 from a year ago, Interior Ministry data showed.
Senegalese refugees comprise the bulk of the migrants, and all sorts of things like drought and commodity prices (due to the invasion Ukraine among other things) are driving their economy into the ground. In the end, climate change is definitely a non negligible component of the problem which is only going to get worse.