Migrants toss dozens of dead comrades overboard

[no name 1]

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe spent three weeks at sea off West Africa's coast and threw nearly 50 bodies overboard after their vessel lost power and supplies dwindled, officials said Tuesday.

The boat, which set out from Senegal with as many as 150 people and apparently traveled hundreds of miles, was found Tuesday by a Mauritanian patrol boat, a Spanish Civil Guard official said.

It was one of the highest death tolls this year among Africans trying to escape poverty and reach Europe's southern gateway.

When the vessel was found, there were 100 people aboard and two dead bodies, the official said under department rules barring her name from being published.

In Mauritania, officials agreed that there were 98 survivors, but otherwise offered slightly different numbers.

Yahfdhou Ould Amar, chief of police for the northern port city of Nouadhibou, said 45 people died in the voyage -- presumably from hunger, cold and thirst.

The boat apparently set sail from southern Senegal on October 16 with 143 people aboard and its motor failed last week off Morocco's coast, much further to the north. It was unclear if the boat then turned around or just drifted southward before being intercepted Tuesday, Amar said.

The survivors were exhausted, and many appeared to be in shock, said Mohamed Ould Hamada, head of the Mauritanian branch of the Red Cross in Nouadhibou. He said the U.N. and other international groups had dispatched teams to help the survivors.

Most of the group were Senegalese, along with some from Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia, Hamada said. They told relief workers that the captain of the boat had perished.

Hundreds of migrants seeking a better life in Europe die each year while attempting to reach Spain by sailing in simple wooden fishing boats from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands, just off Morocco's coast. The trip often takes more than a week.

In July, 50 migrants died off the coast of Africa when their boat capsized just as a Spanish patrol vessel tried to come to its aid. In December, 80 others died when their boat sank off Senegal's coast.

Spain says increased air and sea surveillance of Africa's coast has led to a sharp drop in the number of people attempting the journey.

While 24,000 people were caught trying to sail to Spain last year, as of late August the figure was down to 8,000, according to the Interior Ministry.

source

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Border patrol does work!!!

Edited November 6, 2007 by devilette

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Yet the motivations of the people trying to make the journey don't seem to be all that different... Same desperation resulting from poor conditions in the home country; but fortunately for Spain, their country is not the only destination for African refugees/migrants.

[almaty 19]

i think it is a sad story...and act of desperation

[Sprailenes 47]

I agree this is just sad and so preventable.

almaty, I love your picture in your sig I have that picture in poster form. It really is a beautiful prophecy and so true.

[almaty 19]

I agree this is just sad and so preventable.

almaty, I love your picture in your sig I have that picture in poster form. It really is a beautiful prophecy and so true.

aw, thank you sis

[Peikko 1,575]

What is the OP's point here? To highlight the plight of economic migrants world wide? Yes, it's a global problem and to have to risk your life to try to change it is pretty tragic.

[almaty 19]

What is the OP's point here? To highlight the plight of economic migrants world wide? Yes, it's a global problem and to have to risk your life to try to change it is pretty tragic.

her point is what she wrote..."Border patrol does work!!! "

i add this for others..damn, those that died and risked life ....praise be to Spain

Edited November 6, 2007 by almaty

[Peikko 1,575]

Oh, border patrols really do solve starvation? I thought that was the point. Thanks almaty.

[no name 1]

What is the OP's point here? To highlight the plight of economic migrants world wide? Yes, it's a global problem and to have to risk your life to try to change it is pretty tragic.

her point is what she wrote..."Border patrol does work!!! "

i add this for others..damn, those that died and risked life ....praise be to Spain

The ones who died were African....?

Praise be to Spain for securing their borders.

Oh, border patrols really do solve starvation? I thought that was the point. Thanks almaty.

it's quite clear what the point was, and it was NOT starvation. Re-read it.

[almaty 19]

i never said they were not..i was "helping" others by praising Spain for having secure borders in this article

[Peikko 1,575]

Those that died deserved to because they weren't really trying to escape starvation? Spain should be praised because as a result of their border policies less people are risking their lives to escape starvation?

Really, to use this as a good example of border policy is...well, let's just say most people's sympathies lie with those who died or risked their lives and leave it at that shall we?

[peejay 327]

Those that died deserved to because they weren't really trying to escape starvation? Spain should be praised because as a result of their border policies less people are risking their lives to escape starvation?

Really, to use this as a good example of border policy is...well, let's just say most people's sympathies lie with those who died or risked their lives and leave it at that shall we?

You have a valid point, but the reason most countries have a zero tolerance and send them back is to discourage a mass exodus that makes the death toll increasingly worst and worst.

[JODO 2]

Those that died deserved to because they weren't really trying to escape starvation? Spain should be praised because as a result of their border policies less people are risking their lives to escape starvation?

Really, to use this as a good example of border policy is...well, let's just say most people's sympathies lie with those who died or risked their lives and leave it at that shall we?

You have a valid point, but the reason most countries have a zero tolerance and send them back is to discourage a mass exodus that makes the death toll increasingly worst and worst.

Not to mention further enabling the African dictators to not fix Africa's problems. Sort of like the elite in Mexico have been coddled and propped up too long by our government's refusal to enforce our freaking immigration laws.

[Nagishkaw 510]

That is not up to anyone to judge . It is a sad story.

[almaty 19]

i agree...but Spain should have good borders..what country do they share a border with that is very poor? it is easier to catch via the sea than by land///