The lifeless body of a person, which everything seems to indicate that it is a migrant who disappeared on March 12, has been found in the Bidasoa, the river separating Spain and France, Spanish authorities have said. Thursday, March 31st.
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“
According to the first elements, everything seems to indicate that it is about this migrant but this remains to be confirmed
”, indicated a spokesperson for the Spanish Civil Guard to AFP.
The body was found on Wednesday "
in an area close to the place of disappearance
", said the prefecture of the Spanish Basque Country (north) in a press release.
This migrant had disappeared on March 12 "
when he was trying to cross (the Bidassoa) by swimming towards France
" and the border town of Hendaye (south-west), recalled the prefecture.
A Franco-Spanish search operation was then launched, without success.
The body “
presented a high level of decomposition
”, specified the Civil Guard which started the identification procedure.
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Faced with the increase in controls at the Franco-Spanish border, migrants are taking more and more risks to enter France.
Last year, three migrants, including an Ivorian and a Guinean, drowned in the Bidassoa and in October three Algerians died when they were hit by a train in Ciboure, a few kilometers from the border.
In 2021, the number of non-admissions at the Franco-Spanish border in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department more than doubled compared to 2020 (13,164 against 5,976, +120%), according to the prefecture.
Among these migrants, more than half come from Maghreb countries, and a third from French-speaking countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal), according to the French authorities.