Spanish Rescuers Save 44 Migrants After Month at Sea

Spanish rescue teams recovered 44 survivors from a precarious migrant vessel southwest of Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, on Wednesday. The boat departed from The Gambia on August 7 carrying between 100 and 128 passengers, including women and a baby. The survivors, all men from Mali and Senegal, had spent 27 days at sea and were found dehydrated and disoriented, with some having resorted to drinking seawater after provisions ran out.

Casualty figures remain disputed. Spain’s Maritime Safety and Rescue Society confirmed five bodies were found on board but noted that adverse weather conditions, including 2.5-meter waves, hindered further retrieval. Conversely, Helena Maleno Garzón of the NGO Caminando Fronteras reported that 83 of the original passengers died, including four women and a baby.

Fernando Clavijo Batlle, head of the Canary Islands government, called the loss of life unbearable and urged for a revised state migration policy. He characterized the Atlantic route as a death trap and argued that managing migration from crisis to crisis is unsustainable. Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, further described the situation as a global failure that cannot be accepted as normal.