A disheartening report by the NGO Caminando Fronteras or ‘Walking Borders’ reveals that at least 1,865 people lost their lives or went missing while attempting to reach Europe between January and May 2025. Almost 80% of these deaths occurred along the Atlantic route. The NGO asserts that these tragedies are avoidable and caused by inaction and neglect.

The latest Caminando Fronteras report, published on 17 June 2025, paints a chilling picture: 1,865 migrants died or went missing while trying to reach Europe in the first five months of the year. Behind these figures are women, children and men seeking safety, fleeing war and poverty or simply aspiring to live with dignity.

According to the organisation, 47% of shipwrecks are linked to structural failures, including delayed rescue operations, inadequate resources, arbitrary decision-making, and geographic discrimination. The underuse of aerial surveillance, reliance on passive alerts instead of proactive rescue efforts, and poor coordination with countries such as Algeria, are all factors that continue to cost lives.

Caminando Fronteras warns of a deliberate deterrence strategy by certain European States which prioritise outsourcing border control over fulfilling their humanitarian obligations. The organisation reports receiving urgent distress calls through its hotlines, many of which are ignored or responded to, too late.

The Atlantic route: the deadliest of all

With 1,482 deaths – accounting for almost 80% of all recorded fatalities – the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands remains the deadliest. The Mauritanian sub-route, with departures from Nouadhibou alone, accounts for 1,318 of these deaths. Although departures from Senegal and The Gambia have decreased, 110 people have still lost their lives along this route. On the Moroccan coast, particularly between Agadir and Dakhla, 54 deaths have been recorded.

Some rafts have even drifted as far as Latin America, particularly Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, where migrants who had succumbed to thirst, hunger or exhaustion were found on board.

Algeria, Alboran and Gibraltar: secondary routes, unseen tragedies

The Algerian route to the Balearic Islands has seen 328 deaths or disappearances. Most of the shipwrecks occurred near the coast despite precise warnings being issued. A lack of coordination between Spain and Algeria has further hindered rescue efforts. The profile of the victims is also changing, with an increasing number of Somali migrants now taking this route.

The route through the Strait of Gibraltar has been described as a zone of ‘silent disappearances’. The bodies of young people attempting to swim to Ceuta are often found unidentified, lost in an ‘institutional silence’ that the report denounces as dehumanising.

Meanwhile, the Alboran route receives little media attention. Yet the arrival of migrants in critical condition on Andalusian beaches starkly exposes the harsh and often violent reality of this crossing.

A decline in the number of arrivals to Spain.

Despite the ongoing tragedy, the number of migrant arrivals has declined. Between January and May 2025, 15,000 migrants entered Spain compared to 20,715 during the same period in 2024 i.e., a 27% decrease. Arrivals to the Canary Islands fell even more sharply, by 35%, from 17,000 to 11,000.

For Helena Maleno, founder of Caminando Fronteras, the decline in numbers should not distract from the key issue: “We cannot condone these deaths. States urgently need to prioritise human life over the logic of migration control.”

In the face of recurring tragedies and persistent indifference, the organisation is calling for a political and humanitarian leap forward, placing human beings back at the centre of migration policies.