Moroccan Migrant in Spain Loses Family Members in Deadly Canary Islands Boat Tragedy

The Cape Verdean authorities reported on October 30 the discovery of a boat with three highly decomposed bodies on the beach of Djeu de Merca, in the municipality of Ribeira Brava. The bodies are said to be those of three Moroccans aged between 19 and 48.

To read: Deadly Shipwreck Off Spanish Coast: 8 Migrants Dead, 17 Missing Near Cadiz

The boat left the port of Dakhla on September 23, bound for the Canary Islands, with 31 people on board, including the brother, sister, brother-in-law and niece of Zakaria, a 27-year-old Moroccan living in the Basque Country for eleven months. The young man, who had himself reached the Canary Islands by patera, knows that three to four days are enough to make this sea crossing. But without news of his relatives for a few days, he began to worry. He feared the worst. "We actually knew they were dead, but we didn’t accept it, because we had no proof," he told Naiz.

Zakaria approached all possible authorities (Red Cross, lawyers, police, NGOs or Canarian authorities) to get information on the boat on which his family members had embarked. Without success. "We knocked on all doors to try to find out if our relatives were alive or dead. We only found the support of groups, but not of institutions," he lamented, calling for the creation of a service to support the relatives of missing persons.

To read: Moroccan Family of Three Drowns in Tragic Migration Attempt to Spain

The Cape Verdean authorities finally confirmed that the boat found is indeed the one that had left Dakhla on September 23, after verifying the identity documents found on the victims. After a month of anguish, Zakaria had confirmation of the information he dreaded. His relatives have died at sea.