At least 300 people reported missing after travelling in three boats from Senegal to Spain

At least 300 people travelling in three boats from Senegal to Spain have been reported as missing, according to a Spanish aid group.

Two boats departed from Mbour city on June 23, carrying about 100 people, and a third left the southern town of Kafountine four days later with approximately 200 people.

There has been no contact with the boats since their departure, said Helena Maleno Garzon, coordinator for Walking Borders (Caminando Fronteras).

“The most important thing is to find those people. There are many people missing in the sea, this isn’t normal, we need more planes to look for them,” Ms Maleno said.

The Spanish and Senegalese authorities didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Atlantic migration route is one of the deadliest in the world, with nearly 800 people dying or going missing in the first half of this year, according to Walking Borders.

In recent years the Canary Islands has become one of the main destinations for people trying to reach Spain, with a peak of more than 23,000 migrants arriving in 2020, according to Spain’s interior ministry.

In the first six months of this year, more than 7,000 migrants and refugees reached the Canaries.

Maleno of the Spanish aid group said she has been in contact with the Moroccan, Spanish and Mauritanian marines, and added that more needs to be done to look for the missing boats. “Imagine if there (were) 300 American people missing at sea. What would happen? Many planes would look for them,” she said.

The reports of the missing boats follows one of the deadliest migrant drownings last month, in which more than 500 people are presumed dead off the coast of Greece.

Criticism has been mounting since over Europe’s years-long failure to prevent such tragedies.

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