Migrant rights group Walking Borders said on Thursday that up to 50 migrants trying to reach Spain by boat from West Africa may have drowned.
Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people on Wednesday from a boat that left Mauritania on January 2, carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, the group, based in Madrid and Navarre, said.
The rights group said it had informed the authorities of all relevant countries about the missing boat six days ago.
Relatives of the Pakistani migrants who drowned have said that the boat had left for Spain on January 2. According to them, the human traffickers had anchored the boat in the sea and were demanding more money from them.
Alarmphone, an NGO that provides an emergency phone line for migrants lost at sea, said it alerted Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12.
The service said it had no information about the boat.
Citing a post by Walking Borders on social media platform X, Canary Islands regional leader Fernando Clavejo expressed his sorrow for the victims and urged Spain and Europe to take steps to prevent further tragedies.
“The Atlantic cannot become the graveyard of Africa,” Clavijo said at X. “They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian drama.”
Walking Borders CEO Helena Malino said in a post on X that 44 of those who drowned were from Pakistan.
“They spent 13 days in agony at the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” he said.
A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024, mostly trying to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal, according to Walking Borders.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the boat carrying 80 passengers capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla.
The statement added that a team from the Rabat Embassy has been dispatched to Dakhila to facilitate and provide necessary assistance to Pakistani citizens.
“Crisis Management Unit (CMU) has been activated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have directed the concerned government agencies to provide all possible facilities to the affected Pakistanis,” it said.
The latest incident occurred a month after more than 80 Pakistanis drowned after their boats capsized near Greece on the intervening night of December 13 and 14, 2024.
Although, 36 Pakistani nationals were rescued, the rest are still missing and should be presumed dead, according to a report by the Pakistani embassy.
Bangladeshi, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals were also on board the boats that departed from Tobruk port in Libya.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in separate statements expressed grief over the loss of life in the boat accident.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif prayed for the elevation of the ranks of the Pakistanis who died in the tragedy and sought a report of the incident from the relevant authorities.
He warned that strict action will be taken against those involved in the heinous act of human trafficking.
He said that no negligence will be tolerated in this matter, we are taking strict measures against human trafficking.
Similarly, the President also emphasized on far-reaching and effective measures to prevent human trafficking.