Bodies of 7 migrants found off Spain’s southern coast

Seven migrants have been found dead off the southern Spanish coast this weekend, a Spanish police spokeswoman said on Sunday, after another at least eight were discovered off the coast of Libya on Saturday.
The bodies were discovered on beaches and floating just off the coast of Tarifa late on Friday and through the day on Saturday, though it was not clear where they had traveled from, the spokeswoman said.
“Unless we find a survivor, we really don’t know what happened or even if these people were traveling on the same raft,” she said.
At least eight migrants died when their boat capsized off the coast of Libya on Saturday.
Spanish, Italian and French coast guards work together in rescue missions in the Mediterranean as thousands of migrants attempt the perilous sea crossing into Europe from Northern Africa and the Middle East on flimsy rafts and boats.
Tens of thousands of people seeking better lives are expected to trek across deserts and board unseaworthy boats in Libya this year in a desperate effort to reach European shores by way of Italy.
More than 181,000 people, most so-called “economic migrants” with little chance of being allowed to stay in Europe, attempted to cross the central Mediterranean last year from Libya, Africa’s nearest stretch of coast to Italy. About 4,500 died or disappeared.
Some European leaders are warning of a fresh migration crisis when sea waters warm again and more people choose to put their lives in the hands of smugglers.
“Come next spring, the number of people crossing over the Mediterranean will reach record levels,” Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the EU’s presidency, predicted. “The choice is trying to do something now, or meeting urgently in April, May ... and try to do a deal then.”
The 28-nation EU already has a controversial deal to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey, which has agreed to try to stop the number of migrants leaving the country and to take back thousands more in exchange for billions of euros to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, visa-free travel for its citizens and fast-track EU membership talks.

Source: Arab News