44 migrants drown as boat capsizes in Morocco

By Teide Emomotimi

About Forty four suspected migrants have drowned on Sunday off Western Sahara in Southern Morocco.

According to the Spanish NGO, Caminando Fronteras, the boat in which they were travelling capsized in mid-sea of Cape Boujdiur, in Western Sahara, killing the victims.

She said seven bodies were transferred to the morgue and the other victims were taken off by the sea. According to her on Twitter, twelve other migrants survived the sinking of the boat and were arrested.

However, the source could not specify the destination of the boat, were the migrant boats departing from the area which are usually moving to the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, and which location is at the north-western tip of Africa as Morocco is one the most transit country in Africa for migrants seeking to reach Europe through the Atlantic or Mediterranean coasts.

According to the Morocco’s Ministry of the interior, there was more than 14,700 attempted illegal departures were prevented and 52 smuggling networks dismantled in Morocco during the first quarter of 2022.

The Morocco’s ministry, in 2021, 4,404 migrants died, during a sea crossing to Spain, that this was one of the most worst toll since 2015, Fronteras Caminando, who keeps track of these migration tragedies.

The Spanish government said, over 40,000 migrants, mostly from Morocco, arrived in the country by sea in 2021, as well as in the Balearic and Canary Islands.