In 2024, 10,457 people have died on the Euro-African Western Border.
Our Right to Life 2024 report documents the deadliest period since we have had records, with devastating figures averaging 30 deaths per day. Among the victims are 421 women and 1538 children and adolescents.
The Atlantic route, with 9,757 deaths, remains the deadliest in the world. Tragedies have increased, especially on the Mauritanian route, consolidating this country as the main departure point to the Canary Islands. The Algerian route, in the Mediterranean, is the second deadliest according to our records, with 517 victims. The Strait of Gibraltar has taken up to 110 lives, and another 73 have been lost on the Alboran route. In addition, 131 vessels were lost, with all persons on board.
Omission of the duty of distress and externalization of borders and rescue were among the main causes of the increase in mortality at the Spanish State’s borders
In addition to these figures, the Right to Life 2024 report denounces the main causes of this increase in shipwrecks and victims. Among the main ones, we highlight the omission of the duty to rescue, the prioritization of migration control over the right to life, the externalization of borders in countries without adequate resources, the inaction and arbitrariness in rescues, the criminalization of social organizations and families, all this together with the situations of extreme vulnerability that pushes migrants to throw themselves into the sea in very precarious conditions.
Women facing structural violence at the border
In the report, we also analyze the situation of women in migratory crossings, which mainly occur in inflatable boats between Agadir and Dakhla. While in transit, these women suffer violence, discrimination, racism, deportations and sexual violence, being forced to survive in extreme conditions that push them into begging, prostitution and precarious jobs, as well as running the risk of being recruited by trafficking networks.
An increasing number of women migrants are travelling in dugout canoes from Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, fleeing war and the impact of climate change in impoverished areas. There has also been a growing presence of women on the route to the Balearic Islands from Central and West Africa, crossing Libya and Tunisia, suffering violence, slavery, racial feminicide and forced displacement to Algeria.
There is a lack of protection for children along the migratory routes
Our report points to an increase in the number of children and adolescents on the main migratory routes to Spain, who continue to suffer from a lack of protection and guarantees from the authorities. These minors are treated as migrants rather than as children, so they are exposed to political marketing; they are targets for hate speeches, which exposes them to situations of violation of their rights.
Particularly critical is the situation in the Canary Islands, where children who are not identified as such live with adults in reception centres. This reality exposes them to serious dangers.
Families continue to face difficulties in reporting and searching for their missing children along migratory routes
Another aspect analyzed in the Right to Life 2024 report is the reality of families searching for their missing loved ones on the Euro-African Western Border. Despite some progress in the reception of complaints and examples of good practice, there are still many obstacles to exercising their rights, especially the difficulties in taking DNA samples or filing complaints. These families are thus re-victimized by a system that stigmatizes them and considers their loved ones as second-class victims. In the absence of guarantees for the exercise of their rights, families run the risk of falling into the hands of extortionist gangs.
Faced with such harsh situations, family members organize themselves into community networks and turn to the extended family to overcome the barriers that prevent them from locating their loved ones. Every year, the families searching for their loved ones confront a system of systematic death at the borders that results in thousands of victims such as those covered in this report.
Download the report in English here. Go to the bottom of the page for the French and Spanish versions.
