Over 40 Migrants Drowned As Boat Capsized Off Western Sahara

About 44 migrants have been reported to have drowned when a boat capsized off the coast of the Western Sahara.

According to migrant aid agency Caminando Fronteras, the event happened on Sunday while twelve others were said to have survived the tragedy but have been arrested.

It happened when the boat sunk off the coast of Cap Boujdour, the agency’s Helena Maleno also tweeted.

The bodies of seven victims were brought back to shore but the others could not be retrieved, she added.

There was no immediate confirmation from authorities in Morocco, which sees disputed Western Sahara as an integral part of the North African kingdom.

More than 14,700 attempted irregular departures were prevented and 52 human smuggling networks broke up in Morocco during the first three months of this year, according to interior ministry figures.

Moroccan authorities stopped more than 63,120 crossings last year and shut down 256 smuggling networks.

According to the Spanish interior ministry, more than 40,000 migrants arrived in the country by sea in 2021.

That same year, according to Caminando Fronteras, 4,404 migrants died or went missing as they tried to reach Spain.