Deaths of migrants crossing the Western African Atlantic route 2014-2021
The migration route from the coasts of West Africa to the Canary Islands is active since 2006. In the last years, more African migrants have been taking this route to reach the Canary Islands, the closest territory of the European Union from West Africa. The main nationalities of people crossing the Atlantic route are Mali, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal. Tracking migration routes are complex and the actual number of deaths is difficult to fully picture. Between January and October, the number of recorded deaths and missing migrants on the Western African Atlantic route to the Canary Islands was 887.