The data presented here are the product of exhaustive monitoring carried out by Ca-minando Fronteras 365 days a year. Working with migrant communities, rescue services, family networks and human rights defenders on the ground, we collect, confirm and systematise the necessary data.
Of the 893 victims documented by Ca-minando Fronteras, 749 went missing at sea and only 144 bodies were salvaged: based on these figures, 80% of those who died were never found. The majority of the victims were travelling on 12 vessels that disappeared at sea over the course of the year without a trace of the people on board.
The victims who were identified had been travelling on 45 different boats that were shipwrecked in 2019: 15 on the Alboran Sea route, 16 on the Strait of Gibraltar route, 11 on the Canary Islands route and three on the Algerian route. The Canary Islands route proved to be the deadliest, with 365 deaths and disappearances, followed by the Alboran Sea route with 347, the Strait of Gibraltar route with 146 and the Algerian route with at least 35 victims.
People from 19 different countries all over the world lost their lives trying to reach the Spanish coast in 2019.From India to Angola, Morocco to Yemen, this is an international tragedy. As well as these countries, there were also victims from Burma, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau and Ivory Coast.
Women accounted for 17.13% of the total number of victims in 2019 (153 deaths), while 83 children also lost their lives. Although the Spanish Ministry of Interior claimed to have reduced the mortality rate, data from Ca-minando Fronteras confirms that the number of deaths rose compared to 2018. Migration policies based on militarising the border and dismantling the search and rescue services reduced arrivals of migrant people by 50.07% but led to higher rates of death in the region.
Women accounted for 17.13% of the total number of victims in 2019 (153 deaths), while 83 children also lost their lives. Although the Spanish Ministry of Interior claimed to have reduced the mortality rate, data from Ca-minando Fronteras confirms that the number of deaths rose compared to 2018. Migration policies based on militarising the border and dismantling the search and rescue services reduced arrivals of migrant people by 50.07% but led to higher rates of death in the region.
