Baby born aboard migrant dinghy during journey to Spain

 

A migrant cradles a newborn baby while a woman lies inside a rubber boat alongside other migrants rescued near the Canary Island of Lanzarote, Spain, on January 6, 2025. (Salvamento Maritimo/Reuters)

A baby girl was born at sea aboard a migrant dinghy en route from Africa to Spain on Monday, according to Spain's maritime rescue service.

Rescue workers from the Canary Islands discovered the inflatable raft, carrying 60 people—including 14 women and four children—off the coast of Lanzarote. They told local media they believed the mother had given birth just 15 minutes earlier.

Domingo Trujillo, captain of the rescue vessel Guardamar Talía, described the event as a “beautiful” and “very emotional” experience. Speaking to Spanish television channel RTVE, he recalled a similar encounter in 2020, when he assisted in cutting the umbilical cord of a baby born on another migrant boat.

The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, saw a 17% increase in irregular migration in 2024, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. Migrants primarily arrive from countries such as Mali, Senegal, and Morocco, as reported by Frontex, the European Union border agency.

The increase in migration has been attributed to a “deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in West Africa,” with data identifying the route as Europe’s new migration front line.

According to Caminando Fronteras, an NGO advocating for migrants’ rights, the Atlantic migration route is the deadliest in the world. A recent report revealed that at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared attempting to reach Spain by sea between January 1 and December 5 of last year, with 9,757 of those deaths occurring on the Atlantic route.

“Mass death is continuing at Europe’s borders,” journalist Sally Hayden told CNN. She explained that in the past, many West Africans avoided the Atlantic route, knowing the risks included getting lost, delayed, or dying of dehydration one by one at sea.

Hayden, author of the award-winning book My Fourth Time We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route, emphasized that the increasing number of people risking their lives this way highlights two critical issues. First, other migration routes have become increasingly inaccessible, and second, despite the European Union’s efforts to harden its borders, people will continue to seek safer, more secure, and better opportunities for their families.

The dinghy where the baby was born as the Spanish maritime rescue team approached near the Canary Islands, Spain, on January 6, 2025. (Salvamento Maritimo/AP)

Spain’s Interior Ministry reported last week that nearly 64,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the country in 2024, with 73% (46,843) entering via the Canary Islands.

The increasing migrant arrivals have sparked political tensions in Madrid. In October, the opposition Partido Popular (PP) withdrew from negotiations with the minority coalition government over measures to address the archipelago’s “migration crisis,” criticizing the government’s handling of the situation.

Reports from last year indicate that Spain has been considering establishing an emergency reception center for migrants at an airport near Madrid to ease the strain on coastal regions.

On Thursday, two additional migrant boats were rescued near the Canary Islands. One carried 84 people, while the other had “60 sub-Saharan individuals” on board, according to a post by Spain’s maritime rescue agency on X.