Thousands of African migrants drown every year across multiple maritime routes, and high numbers persist despite efforts by European countries to curb illegal small boat crossings, particularly those originating from western and northern Africa.
This story is written and edited by Global South World
According to the Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, 30 people died per day on Spain’s western Euro-African border in 2024, with a total of about 10,457 migrant deaths and disappearances that year alone. 421 of the victims were women; 1,538 were children and adolescents.
The Atlantic route accounted for around 9,757 deaths in 2024, making it the deadliest migratory passage in the world. Caminando Fronteras also notes the increasing cases via the Algerian/Mediterranean route, which accounted for almost half of the victims.
2025 registered a drop in illegal migration along Europe’s maritime routes. A report shows that about 17,000 migrants made it to Spain’s Canary Islands in 2025, just 40% of the previous year’s numbers. Another report indicates a drop in migrant mortality, but reveals that 70 boats disappeared with everyone on board, casting a shadow on the decline.
For the families of Senegalese migrants who brave that terrifying journey across the Atlantic on wooden boats commonly known as pirogues – only to die or disappear before reaching Spain’s Canary Islands – the crisis offers numbing anxiety and despair.
Children, whose parents vanished in the sea, have been left with limited or no care, struggling with unspoken trauma, often engaging in child labour to afford their day-to-day basic necessities. Some hang onto the hope that their parents will show up one day, a longing that gradually spirals into hopelessness and nightmares.
Eleven-year-old Sokhna’s father perished in a pirogue fire in 2022 and now lives with her equally traumatised mother. “I always think about my father when I see the sea,” she confesses to AFP, adding: “When I dream about him and I’m scared because I really feel like he’s talking to me, the next day I go see my grandmother.”
Poverty is a major push factor for Africans who opt for these dreadful journeys, seeking greener pastures on the other side of the sea. Boats keep loading beyond their capacity, despite the obvious risks.
“One day, my father told my brother and me that he wanted to go to Spain and asked us what we thought. I said to him, ‘Dad, don’t go, don’t leave me alone, I only have you and Mum’,” Sokhna recalls her father’s burning desire to seek opportunities that would enable him to take care of her then hospitalised mother and the rest of the family.
This situation reflects the reality of thousands of children in Senegal and across West and North Africa who live with unanswered questions and regrets.
Europe’s attempts to patrol its waters and provide funding to African countries to help fight illegal migration are moderately succeeding in reducing the numbers, but it does not address fundamental issues like human rights concerns: arbitrary arrests, detention of innocent people, and forced returns.
Equally noteworthy, the policy does not fix the problem’s root causes, particularly the socio-economic hardship that pushes thousands to risk precious life. With widespread corruption and management gaps, the funding is largely diverted to the benefit of political actors, offering less or no relief to the masses who bear the brunt of unemployment and deprivation.
More importantly, the EU’s approach does little to provide relief to the victims’ suffering families, which deepens poverty and inequality, thereby fuelling the continuity of the risky treks.
It is commendable that Europe acknowledges that the problem should be addressed from the source. But this realisation must be backed by robust, evidence-based actions that not only prevent illegal migrants from getting to European shores, but also foster genuine collaboration with different players in African communities, both in government and civil society. The response should aim at eradicating the push factors, especially through advancing people’s human development.
This article was originally published by Global South World and is republished here with permission. View the original article.
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