A boat tragedy in Spain claims the lives of 44 Pakistani refugees.

(Web Desk) Madrid Walking Borders, a migrant rights organization, reported Thursday that up to 50 migrants, including 44 Pakistanis, may have perished in the most recent fatal accident involving those attempting to cross from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands.

According to the NGO, 36 individuals were rescued by Moroccan police on Wednesday from a boat carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, that had departed Mauritania on January 2.

Helena Maleno, the CEO of Walking Borders, stated on X that 44 of the people thought to have perished were from Pakistan.

“They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she stated.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry posted on X that a number of the survivors, including several Pakistanis, were evacuated to a camp close to the port of Dakhla after the boat capsized off the coast of the disputed Western Sahara area.

According to Pakistan, the boat was transporting eighty people. Twelve of the dead were young Gujrat natives.

When asked what NGOs had warned it about a missing boat, Spain’s marine rescue agency responded that it had heard on January 10 about a boat that had departed Nouakchott in Mauritania and was having issues, but it was unable to verify whether it was the same boat.

The military claimed it had informed surrounding ships and conducted unsuccessful air searches.

According to Walking Borders, it reported the missing boat to police in all participating nations six days ago.

Spain’s marine rescue department was notified on January 12 about a boat in peril by Alarm Phone, an NGO that offers an emergency phone line for migrants who are stranded at sea.

Walking Borders reports that a record 10,457 migrants, or 30 individuals every day, perished in 2024 while attempting to enter Spain, the majority of them were trying to traverse the Atlantic route from West African nations like Senegal and Mauritania to the Canary islands.

Fernando Clavijo, regional head of the Canary Islands, said he was saddened by the fatalities of the most recent catastrophe and called on Spain and Europe to take action to stop other tragedies, citing the Walking Borders’ post on X.

Clavijo stated on X that the Atlantic “cannot continue to be the graveyard of Africa.” “They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian drama.”

FO establishes a crisis response facility

Local officials are in communication with the Pakistani Embassy in Rabat. A team from the Embassy has also been sent to Dakhla to help the Pakistani citizens and offer the support they require.

In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has directed the pertinent government agencies to provide all assistance to the impacted Pakistanis, and the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit has been created.

The following are the contact information for the Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit and Rabat focus points:

Phone number: 051-9207887

Send an email to cmu1@mofa.gov.pk.