From Pakistan to Spain via the Canaries, smugglers are using longer, more dangerous migration routes
DERA BAJWA, Pakistan (AP) — It was supposed to be the final leg of Amir Ali’s monthslong journey to Europe. But he was nowhere near his destination, with only death in sight.
The 21-year-old Pakistani had been promised a visa and a flight to Spain. Yet six months, four countries and $17,000 later, he found himself crammed in a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean alongside 85 others, screaming for their lives as seawater sloshed over the gunwales.
Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants perished during the 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania’s coast toward Spain’s Canary Islands.
The deadly journey cast a spotlight on how globalized and sophisticated smuggling networks on the West African coast — and specifically Mauritania — have become. Interviews with survivors and relatives of migrants who died revealed how smugglers have adapted to tighter border controls and anti-migration policies across the Mediterranean and North Africa, resorting to lengthier, more dangerous routes.
https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-canary-islands-spain-deadly-migration-route-ef38de1e7a7956cf4ed5f248e3eb97d8