BAMAKO/LAS PALMAS, Spain: At least 69 people died after a boat headed from West Africa to the Canary Islands capsized off Morocco on Dec. 19, Malian authorities said, as data showed deaths of migrants attempting to reach Spain surged to an all-time high in 2024.
The makeshift boat was carrying around 80 people when it capsized. Only 11 survived, the Ministry of Malians Abroad said in a statement on Thursday, after collecting information to reconstruct the incident.
A crisis unit has been set up to monitor the situation, it added.
The Atlantic migration route from the coast of West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, typically used by African migrants trying to reach mainland Spain, has seen a surge this year, with 41,425 arrivals in January-November already exceeding last year’s record 39,910.
Years of conflict in the Sahel region that includes Mali, unemployment and the impact of climate change on farming communities are among the reasons why people attempt the crossing.
One person died among 300 people who arrived on six boats on Friday on the island of El Hierro in the Canaries, according to the Red Cross.
The Atlantic route, which includes departure points in Senegal and Gambia, Mauritania and Morocco, is the world’s deadliest, according to migrant aid group Walking Borders.
In its annual report released this week, the group said 9,757 migrants died at sea in 2024 trying to reach the Spanish archipelago from Africa’s Atlantic coast. A record 10,457 people — or nearly 30 people a day — died attempting to reach Spain this year from all routes, according to the report.
The route departing from Mauritania, which has been particularly well used this year by migrants leaving the Sahel region, was the deadliest, accounting for 6,829 deaths.
Walking Borders blamed a lack of action or arbitrary rescues and the criminalization of migrants for the surge in deaths at sea, accusing governments of “the prioritization of immigration control over the right to life.”
At least 69 migrants killed in shipwreck off Morocco on deadly route to Spain
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At least 69 migrants killed in shipwreck off Morocco on deadly route to Spain
- The Atlantic migration route from the coast of West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has seen a surge this year
Finland jails Russian for life over 2014 ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine
The prosecution had accused Torden of five counts of war crimes that resulted in the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers
HELSINKI: A Finnish court on Friday sentenced a Russian neo-Nazi to life in prison on war crimes charges stemming from a 2014 clash in Ukraine, with Kyiv hailing the ruling as a “key milestone.”
The Helsinki district court found Vojislav Torden, a commander of the Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group Rusich, guilty of “four different war crimes” committed in the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine.
His lawyer, Heikki Lampela, told Finnish media that Torden was surprised by the ruling and would appeal it.
The prosecution had accused Torden of five counts of war crimes that resulted in the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers.
The court dismissed the main count, which argued the Rusich forces ambushed a convoy of two vehicles, a truck and a car, carrying Ukrainian soldiers on September 5, 2014.
As other groups were also present, the court said the prosecution had not proven that Rusich and Torden were responsible for the ambush.
However, Torden was found guilty of leading the actions of Rusich’s soldiers at the scene following the ambush and of killing one wounded soldier.
He was also found guilty of authorizing fighters to mutilate Ivan Issyk by cutting the symbol used by the group — the kolovrat, or “spoked wheel” — into his cheek.
The emblem is often used by ultranationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Russia and Eastern Europe. Issyk died as a result of his wounds.
Torden was also found guilty of having taken derogatory photos of a fallen soldier at the scene and posting it to social media.
The office of the Ukraine’s prosecutor general on Friday hailed the court’s decision as “a key milestone in holding perpetrators of grave violations of international humanitarian law accountable.”
“Ukraine remains committed to working with partners worldwide to ensure there is no impunity for war criminals,” it said in a statement posted on social media.
According to Finnish public broadcaster YLE, Torden was arrested by Finnish border guards at Helsinki airport as he tried to leave the country in August 2023.
He was on the EU sanctions list and banned from entering Finland.
Ukraine had sought Torden’s extradition, which Finland’s supreme court rejected, citing the risk of him not receiving a fair trial and suffering inhumane conditions in prison.
In October last year, Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) completed a comprehensive probe launched in December 2023.
The investigation involved close cooperation with Ukrainian prosecutors and security services as well as Europol, the International Criminal Court and Eurojust — the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.
Finland applies “universal jurisdiction,” a legal principle allowing it to bring charges on its soil for suspected serious crimes committed anywhere in the world.
‘Strong G7 unity’ on Ukraine in talks: host Canada
- “We were able to find strong G7 unity on a variety of issues … in particular is the one linked to Ukraine,” Joly said
CHARLEVOIX, Canada: Group of Seven foreign ministers reached a unified statement backing US-led calls for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, host Canada said Friday, despite friction with President Donald Trump.
“I can say that through our long conversations, we were able to find strong G7 unity on a variety of issues that were discussed and one that I would like to highlight in particular is the one linked to Ukraine,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters on the last day of the talks in Quebec.
UK police extend detention of North Sea crash captain
- Police were granted two extensions on Wednesday and Thursday
- Police cited the location of both vessels at sea as one of the complications facing the probe
LONDON: UK police Friday again extended the detention of the captain of a cargo ship which struck a tanker in the North Sea, citing the “complexities” of the case.
The Russian captain was arrested Monday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after his ship, the Solong, slammed into the tanker anchored off the coast of Hull in northeastern England, setting both ships ablaze and leaving one sailor presumed dead.
Police were granted two extensions on Wednesday and Thursday to allow more time to question the 59-year-old captain due to “the complexities of the incident,” the local Humberside police force said in a statement.
Police cited the location of both vessels at sea as one of the complications facing the probe, with the ships on fire for several days after the incident, requiring a massive firefighting response.
While all crew onboard the jet fuel-laden tanker, the US-flagged Stena Immaculate, were safely rescued, one sailor from the Portuguese-flagged Solong remains missing and presumed dead.
Although the government has ruled out foul play, investigators are still determining the causes of the crash, in which the Solong never deviated from its course and slammed into the Stena at 16 knots an hour.
Pockets of fire were still being reported on the deck of the Solong on Thursday evening, according to the UK Coast Guard.
“Extensive lines of enquiry are continuing,” police said.
Salvage teams boarded the vessels on Thursday to carry out initial damage assessments.
UN migration agency laying off around 20 percent of HQ staff amid US aid cuts: sources
- Fresh cuts at IOM are expected to impact at least 20 percent
GENEVA: The UN migration agency, which has been hit hard by US foreign aid cuts, has launched more mass layoffs, impacting around a fifth of staff at its Geneva headquarters, employees said Friday.
Fresh cuts at the International Organization for Migration are expected to impact at least 20 percent of the more than 1,000 current headquarters staff, according to several sources familiar with the situation.
US hails ‘historic peace treaty’ between Armenia, Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijan and Armenia said Thursday that they had wrapped up talks aimed at resolving the Caucasus neighbors’ decades-long conflict
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday hailed a “historic peace treaty” finalized by Armenia and Azerbaijan and called on both sides to follow through.
“This is an opportunity for both countries to turn the page on a decades old conflict,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“Now is the time to commit to peace, sign and ratify the treaty, and usher in a new era of prosperity for the people of the South Caucasus,” he added.
Azerbaijan and Armenia said Thursday that they had wrapped up talks aimed at resolving the Caucasus neighbors’ decades-long conflict, with both sides agreeing on the text of a possible treaty.
A deal to normalize ties would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkiye all jostle for influence.
