Summary:
- More than 60 people feared dead in a migrant boat capsize off Cape Verde.
- Boat had 101 passengers onboard, with 38 people rescued so far.
- Survivors taken to Cape Verde's Saal island.
- Deadly Atlantic migration route often used by African migrants to reach Spain.
- Rising death toll highlights lack of safe migration pathways.
More than 60 people are feared dead after a boat carrying mostly Senegalese migrants capsized off the coast of Cape Verde. The boat had left Senegal on July 10th with 101 passengers on board, according to the Senegalese Foreign Ministry. In a statement, it said 38 people were rescued on Tuesday, though it was not immediately clear when the vessel capsized. The survivors have been taken to the Cape Verde island of Saal.
Jose Marrera is a health official there. The survivors are better, they're being hydrated, they're being looked after here in the tent, here at the port. The Atlantic migration route from the coast of West Africa to the Canary Islands is typically used by African migrants trying to reach Spain. Summer is the busiest time of year on what is one of the world's deadliest routes. At least 559 people died attempting to reach the Canary Islands in 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration. It said another 126 were killed or went missing in the first six months of this year, with 15 shipwrecks recorded. In late July, a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Senegal's capital Dakar. At least 15 people drowned. IOM spokeswoman Safram Saleh said safe and regular pathways to migration were sorely lacking. That she said gives room to smugglers and traffickers to put people on these deadly journeys.