No less than 44 migrants drowned on Sunday when their boat capsized off the coast of Western Sahara, migrant support company Caminando Fronteras mentioned.
Twelve others survived the tragedy, which occurred when the boat sunk off the coast of Cap Boujdour, the company’s Helena Maleno tweeted.
The survivors had been arrested, Maleno wrote.
The our bodies of seven victims had been introduced again to shore however the others couldn’t be retrieved, she added.
There was no rapid affirmation from authorities in Morocco, which sees disputed Western Sahara as an integral a part of the North African kingdom.
It was not clear the place the boat was heading, however normally, migrants leaving from that space attempt to attain Spain’s Canary Islands.
Morocco is a key transit level on routes taken by migrants hoping for higher lives in Europe.
On Friday, Morocco and Spain mentioned in a joint assertion they had been dedicated to strengthening cooperation on irregular migration.
Greater than 14,700 tried irregular departures had been prevented and 52 human smuggling networks broke up in Morocco throughout the first three months of this yr, in response to inside ministry figures.
Moroccan authorities stopped greater than 63,120 crossings final yr and shut down 256 smuggling networks.
In response to the Spanish inside ministry, greater than 40,000 migrants arrived within the nation by sea in 2021.
That very same yr, in response to Caminando Fronteras, 4,404 migrants died or went lacking as they tried to achieve Spain.