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Migrants arrive on the beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta
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Bernat Armangue / AP
According to a reputable Spanish aid organization, more than 4,400 migrants died last year trying to reach Spain by sea. The number has doubled compared to 2020 - at that time 2170 migrants died, said the aid organization "Caminando Fronteras", which is very well networked in Africa. There has never been so many fatalities as in 2021. On the route from West Africa to the Canary Islands alone, 4016 people died in the Atlantic, it said.
The number of Spanish organizations is around three and a half times that of the United Nations Migration Organization (IOM).
"Caminando Fronteras" explained that the organization's activists had direct contact with survivors of boat wrecks and with the families of migrants in Africa.
In all cases, data from primary sources would be compared with information from migrant communities, government agencies and social organizations.
The IOM also admits on its homepage: "Since fatal accidents are often only registered weeks or months later, the final number of fatalities in 2021 is likely to be much higher."
"Caminando Fronteras" points out that the 4404 victims are 4175 confirmed deaths and 229 migrants who disappeared months after the start of a migration attempt and were almost certainly dead.
According to its own record, 628 women and 205 children were among the victims.
High death rates also in the Mediterranean
The numbers are significantly higher than the deaths in the Mediterranean.
According to UNHCR estimates, more than 2,500 people died there between January and November this year.
In total, more than 22,931 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2014.
Since 2015, almost a million people, mainly civil war refugees from Syria, have reached the Greek islands from Turkey and thus the EU.
mrc / dpa
