Red Cross: Migrants take longer, riskier routes to Canaries now
Red Cross data found that migrants from West Africa, who take the journey to Europe via the Canary Islands, now take longer and riskier routes post restrictions from Mauritania on irregular migration, according to a Reuters report on January 14th.
Gambia’s coast has become more popular among migrants’ routes, with the number of boats doubling in 2025, compared to 2024, and 4000 people leaving for Europe between March and June alone.
As Mauritania became stricter with regulations, Gambia and Guinea—which are further south, have become the new popular route for migrants, involving a longer and deadlier route through the Atlantic to reach Europe.
In December, a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Gambia, killing 39 people. And in November, the Mauritanian coast guard rescued 227 migrants who were stranded at sea. As Mauritania signed an agreement to curb migration from its coasts with the European Union, Human Rights Watch highlighted that abuse against migrants increased post the signed agreement.
The Red Cross conducted interviews on migrants arriving in the Canaries and gathered that departures from Mauritania fell by 89% between April 1st and December 31st; 23 people against the 216 in the same period in 2024. While Spain’s Interior Ministry said that the overall migrants from West Africa fell 59% till October 2025, in contrast with the same period in 2024.
Besides the partnership with the European Union, Mauritania tightened its borders following an alleged Polisario incursion, which intensified security measures in desert regions often used by migrants.
On the new route to the Canaries, Hassan Ould Moctar, a lecturer in the anthropology of migration at SOAS University of London, said, “The fact that people are leaving farther south on that route means that they have longer to travel, they need to get farther on supplies, they need money for fuel, all of which means that it’s riskier still. The most lethal crossing to (Europe) is sadly set to become more lethal still.”
Reuters, Maghrebi.org
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