Seven individuals are facing charges for operating a migrant vessel and allegedly murdering four passengers during a journey to the Canary Islands, as announced by authorities in Tenerife. The vessel, carrying 207 foreign asylum-seekers, arrived on the island of El Hierro on November 3. Most passengers boarded in Senegal before traveling 800 nautical miles north to the Canary Islands, with the boat reportedly originating in the Gambia.
During the voyage, the crew of the migrant vessel singled out a passenger they deemed problematic, leading to a violent altercation. Witnesses reported that the crew beat the man, along with other passengers who tried to intervene. The police claim that four passengers were murdered by the crew in an attempt to intimidate the rest of the migrants on board, with one additional passenger sustaining a serious chest wound, possibly from a stabbing.
Three of the victims have been identified, and their families have been informed, while the identity of the fourth victim is still being determined. The incident sheds light on the increasing trend of long-distance maritime migration from Africa to the Canary Islands this year, with over 45,000 foreign nationals arriving in the Spanish archipelago since the beginning of the year. Tragically, NGO Caminando Fronteras estimates that nearly 10,000 asylum seekers have died at sea while attempting to reach the Canary Islands in 2021, highlighting the high fatality rate compared to other migration routes.
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