Over 1,800 migrants perished while journeying towards Spain, with 342 of them being minors, as reported by Caminando Fronteras.
Dang, man! 1,865 souls lost at sea since Jan: That's the grim reality, bro. This tragic toll includes 342 minors and 112 women, as per a report by NGO Caminando Fronteras, published on June 17, 2025. The report analyzed 113 cases from January to May 2025, revealing that 38 vessels vanished with all hands on board during this period. The deadliest month was January with 767 fatalities, followed by February (618), March (261), April (162), and May (57).
The Atlantic route, the deadliest swim:
The Atlantic route, baby, is the most lethal, accounting for 80% of all deaths in the first five months of '25. This route starts from Mauritania, Senegal, and Gambia, as well as from Dakhla and Guelmin (Morocco), with destination to the Canary Islands. The route from Mauritania alone claimed 1,318 lives.
CamFron (that's Caminando Fronteras for the squares) emphasizes the high percentage of disappearances and the "invisible mortality" this creates. Boats with corpses washed ashore in Latin countries like Brazil or Trinidad and Tobago are examples of this grim truth. Deaths on these journeys often result from "dehydration, starvation, or prolonged exposure to the elements." Therefore, the organization urges a "thorough analysis" of the minimum deployment of aerial means in key Atlantic zones.
Other routes also claim lives: the Algerian route registered 328 deaths, the Strait route 52, and the Alboran route 3. Within the Atlantic route, the Agadir-Dakhla route accounted for 54 deaths, and the Senegal-Gambia route 110.
The "lethal impact" of border control, up close and personal:
CamFron maintains that the "decomposed bodies discovered on the Strait route" show the "lethal and dehumanizing impact" of border control policies on migrant lives.
The 1,865 deceased hailed from 22 different countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, and Syria, among others.
1.16 min "Though the figures have dipped compared to last year, we can't chill over these stats, and we need to keep yelling at governments to protect the lives of all people, not their border control policies," said Helena Maleno, lead investigator.
According to CamFron, border control policies and the "downfall of maritime life protection standards" have been key factors in 47% of the tragedies analyzed, along with the lack of activation and inaction in search operations, poor coordination between countries, or the "serious precariousness" of the vessels.
- The average number of lives lost monthly in the Atlantic route, which accounts for 80% of all deaths, reveals a shocking policy-and-legislation perspective in politics, with an average of 647 fatalities between January to May 2025.
- In the general news, it's alarming to notice that border control policies have played a significant role in 47% of the tragedies analyzed by Caminando Fronteras, causing a "lethal and dehumanizing impact" on migrant lives, as shown by the decomposed bodies discovered on the Strait route.
