At least 44 people, including children and women, drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Tarfaya in southern Morocco trying to reach the Canary Islands, Spanish migrant aid agency Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) reported.

According to the aid agency, there were 61 people on the boat, including 16 women and 7 babies, only 17 were found alive and five bodies have already been recovered.

The boat was heading for the Spanish coast of Fuerteventura and was located in the Atlantic by Moroccan Emergency Rescue.

? TRAGEDIA. Al menos cuarenta y cuatro víctimas en un naufragio en las costas de Tarfaya. La neumática con sesenta y una personas, entre ellas dieciséis mujeres y siete bebés, volcó cuando intentaban llegar a Canarias.
?￰ﾟﾏ﾿

— Helena Maleno Garzón (@HelenaMaleno) March 12, 2022

Spanish news agency EFE reported that sources from the sub-Saharan community in Morocco pointed out that most of the victims were from the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Guinea.

Greek coastguards also recently rescued about 100 migrants, most of them Afghans, fleeing the Taliban, after their boat got into difficulties off the island of Paros, harbour police informed.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed that migration along the West African Atlantic route to the Canary Island is increasing. “In recent years, more people have died or disappeared on this passage. In 2021, at least 73 boat accidents were recorded on this route, killing 1109 migrants”, Alpha Seydi Ba, spokesperson of the IOM office in Dakar, told German newspaper DW.

Evangelical volunteer work in Canary Islands

Evangelicals in the Canary Islands have been helping migrants arriving in the islands for years, which has intensified with the pandemic.

The evangelical church Misión Cristiana Moderna (Modern Christian Mission) recently demanded “permanent resources” , because “migration phenomenon is not going to end. It is a question related to the situation of extreme poverty in all of Africa, and as long as that does not end, immigration will not end”.

The work of this church was recognised by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Its representative in Spain, Sophie Muller visited Fuerteventura, where Misión Cristiana Moderna is located, and stressed that evangelicals are doing “an incredible and admirable work” there.