5 Migrants Die Trying to Reach Canary Islands

Migrants rescued in the Atlantic Ocean disembark from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
Migrants rescued in the Atlantic Ocean disembark from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
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5 Migrants Die Trying to Reach Canary Islands

Migrants rescued in the Atlantic Ocean disembark from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
Migrants rescued in the Atlantic Ocean disembark from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

Five African migrants have died trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands by boat, officials said Friday, two days after another vessel was spotted near the archipelago with 15 dead migrants on board.

A Spanish air force patrol plane detected the boat about 110 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of the island of Gran Canaria and alerted Spain's maritime rescue service which intercepted the vessel, a spokeswoman for the service said.

Rescuers found 12 people on board, several of them in poor health, and four bodies, AFP quoted her as saying.

Two of the migrants were evacuated by helicopter to a health center in Gran Canaria, where one of them later died.

Spain's maritime rescue service discovered a boat near the island on Wednesday with 15 dead migrants on board.

At the beginning of the month at least 27 migrants who were trying to reach the Canaries died when their vessel failed off the coast of Mauritania.

Illegal migration to the islands, in the Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco, has risen over six-fold this year to 3,448 people as of August 16, despite a 26.6 percent drop in overall seaborne arrivals to Spain, according to interior ministry data.

Migrant rights groups say heightened security across the Mediterranean is likely driving more migrants to risk the perilous Atlantic crossing.

A total of 239 migrants have died trying to reach the Canaries between January 1 and August 19, compared to 210 during all of last year, and just 43 in 2018, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).



Autonomous Administration Refuses to Implement Decisions of New Syrian Govt

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
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Autonomous Administration Refuses to Implement Decisions of New Syrian Govt

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 30, 2025, shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (6th-R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sahibani (6th-L) posing for a picture with the new transitional government in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria criticized on Sunday the new Syrian transitional government, saying it does not reflect the diversity in the country.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the new 23-minister government lineup on Saturday, vowing to rebuild a “strong and stable state” that was destroyed by years of war.

The cabinet included Yarub Badr, an Alawite who was named transportation minister, while Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry.

Hind Kabawat, a Christian woman and part of the previous opposition to Assad who worked for interfaith tolerance and women's empowerment, was appointed as social affairs and labor minister.

The autonomous authorities said the new government failed in “providing fair and real representation” for all the Syrian people, saying it will not abide by its decisions.

In a statement, it said the new cabinet “was very similar to its predecessors in that it does not take into account the diversity in the country.”

“It won’t be able to run the country smoothly and help it end its crisis. Rather, it will deepen the crisis and fail in addressing the problems that caused it in the first place,” it charged.

“Insistence on repeating past mistakes will harm the Syrians and will not lead to the launch of a comprehensive political process that can reach solutions to pending problems,” it went on to say.

The statement called for an end to “policies of marginalization and elimination,” urging that Syrians of all segments, religions and sects be represented.

The government announcement was welcomed by the Syrian people, Arab and international community, which has offered to help the country in its reconstruction process.