Record number of migrants, refugees reached Canary Islands by sea in 2024
Al Jazeera
Spain received 63,970 people who arrived through irregular routes last year, including 46,843 in the Canary Islands.
At least 46,843 people reached Spain’s Canary Islands in 2024 through the increasingly deadly Atlantic migration route, the country’s interior ministry has said.
The European country received 63,970 migrants who arrived through irregular routes last year, the vast majority in the Atlantic archipelago, up from 56,852 in 2023, the ministry said on Thursday.
EU border agency Frontex noted that irregular crossings into the bloc from January to November 2024 fell 40 percent overall but grew 19 percent on the Atlantic route, with people from Mali, Senegal and Morocco attempting to cross.
Years of conflict in the Sahel region, unemployment, and the effect of climate change on farming communities are among the reasons why people attempt the crossing.
The Atlantic route, which includes departure points in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania and Morocco, is also the world’s deadliest.
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