Seventeen migrants have lost their lives this week, during their attempt to cross the sea from North Africa to Spain. In addition, rescuers have picked up over 100 migrants, the Spanish coast guard informed.
According to Reuters, two rafts were located between the Iberian peninsula and Morocco and Algeria, which had 80 people aboard, while 13 died. The migrants were being transported to Melilla. What is more, the coast guard located another four bodies and rescued 22 men in the Atlantic, off Cadiz.
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Spain is one of the main destination for undocumented migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East, who are trying to reach Europe.
In fact, more than 47,000 people have travelled to Spain, in un-safe dinghies and rafts, from January 1 to October 30, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) notes.
Moreover, around 600 deaths have been recorded in the same period, IOM adds.
During this year, 100,000 have arrived in the Mediterranean, and almost 2,000 are missing or dead. In the same period in 2017, 148,000 migrants had arrived by sea and about 3,000 had died.
