The nameless ones who continue to die trying to reach Europe

The NGO Caminando Fronteras has released its annual tally of deaths occurring while attempting to reach Spanish shores and has confirmed a significant increase in shipwrecks of boats trying to reach the Balearic Islands from Algeria. Of the 3,090 deaths recorded, a third (1,037) occurred on this route, which departs from North Africa towards Formentera or Ibiza, islands known for their tourist appeal. The contrast of migrants arriving on beaches packed with tourists, in what for them represents their dream destination, is one of the images that best encapsulates the contradictions of the modern world. The majority of fatalities (1,906) continue to occur on the route from Africa to the Canary Islands, although this year there has been a significant decrease compared to last year. It should be noted that 2014 was a record year, when more than 10,000 people drowned trying to reach Spanish shores. According to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior, irregular migrant arrivals to Spain fell by 40.4% compared to 2014, with an even steeper decline in the Canary Islands, where it reached 59.9%. However, we cannot ignore such a painful reality, even though Europe has often believed that the best way to avoid encouraging these journeys is to abandon these people to their fate. We recall that high-seas rescue initiatives like the one carried out by the Catalan NGO Open Arms are condemned by the far right, from Salvini to Vox. Throughout its history, the ARA has documented some of these rescue operations with journalist Cristina Mas and photographer Xavier Bertral, and the conclusion is always the same: it's naive to think that people won't risk their lives to reach Europe by putting themselves in the hands of criminal gangs when they see no future, no opportunities, in their homeland.

In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between two debates that should be separate. One is the control of borders and migration flows, and the other is the rescue of people at sea. The first is a politically legitimate debate, but the second is simply a matter of respect for human rights, and specifically for the most basic right: the right to life. Clearly, the criminal organizations that traffic people—for whom they are often nothing more than livestock paying for an uncertain journey—must be prosecuted, and cooperation agreements must be reached with the countries at the origin of these routes. But with current technology, it remains a disgrace that so many people die each year in the Mediterranean or the Atlantic, as is the case with the Canary Islands. Often, their identities are unknown, and their only remaining memory will be a nameless gravestone, representing a life cut short.