Samantha Mythen
MORE than 320 migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Spain via the Algerian Route between January and May, their bodies increasingly washing up on the shoreline of the Balearic Islands.
The Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands recorded at least 32 bodies discovered last week.
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The Balearic Islands are one of the main destinations of the Algerian Route, the second deadliest migratory route in the world, after the Atlantic route.
“One of the most alarming factors identified along this route has been the lack of early activation of rescue resources in response to alerts, as well as the limited coordinated intervention of aerial resources to detect vessels in emergency situations in a timely manner,” Caminando Fronteras said in its recently released report, Monitoring the Right to Life on the Western Euro-African Border.
Another issue is the lack of coordination with Algerian authorities, which results in many disappearances going unrecorded; a pattern of ‘invisible mortality.’
The humanitarian organisation believes many migrant shipwrecks occur close to the coast, and more efficient maritime or air rescue intervention, could have ‘made the difference between life and death.’
“This situation raises urgent questions about why these people were not detected and searched for in a timely manner, despite the warnings received,” the report stated.
Historical data states that more than 2000 people have died or disappeared along this route over the last five years, with each year seeing an increasing number of deaths.
There has also been a shift in the profiles of those attempting to use the Algerian Route – with an increase in Somali nationals.
Caminando Fronteras said these people could be displaced from political crisis’ and internal violence from the Horn of Africa to the Maghreb region in Algeria.
Passengers pay between 2,000-4,000 euros for a place on usuall, a small, and inaquately prepared, motorboat for the crossing, according to InfoMigrants.
Caminando Fronteras said, overall, an estimated 1,865 people died trying to reach Spain via the Western Euro-African border in the first five months of the year. This included 342 children.
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