Last year more than 1,000 illegal immigrants died trying to reach Spain.  Those who do make it are usually arrested upon arrival. According to a report by the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía.  Translated, the report is credited to Andalucia Human Right’s Association who has been following the plight of those attempting to flee their African homeland.   

The group published this report specifically, “Human rights on the southern border 2007” which attempts to offer a detailed accounting of the tragedy of those desperately trying to reach the country of Spain. The report states, 921 migrant deaths occurred while attempting to reach Spain illegally in 2007.  Of those, 189 lost their lives off the coast of Spain.  The remaining migrants are believed to have died off the shores of western Africa.  More than half of those dead, 629 were from Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Numbers were also published for the first part of 2008.  It is reported that 90 deaths have occurred between January and February with six of them off the Canaries, 13 off Cadiz province, and one in Ceuta.  Still others died off the coasts of Africa.  Last year in 2007, for the same time frame it is suggested the death toll was 12.   The numbers cited are official figures given by Spanish authorities for 2007, however, the association believes the true number of deaths may be as high as 3500.