This cemetery on Spain's tiny island of El Hierro is
home to many nameless plots inside lie migrants often unidentified
their anxious families back home, unaware of their passing
arrivals to the Canary islands from West Africa are running
at all time. Highs. The Red Cross says
more than 42,000 migrants have reached the archipelago. So
far this year, around half of those have landed
here on the shores of El Hierro, an island
with a population of 11,400. But the rate of
those going missing or dying on the treacherous Atlantic Crossing
is growing five times faster than those making it alive
. The latest available data shows this funeral is for
Bath Berry. He was identified as Senegalese by a
survivor from his boat who said he was a relative
. The farewell is small, quick and painfully silent
. None of those who traveled with him and survived
can attend. They are in police custody or in
hospital. It is not just a matter of faith
or religion. It is much more than that.
And Mari Chal is a volunteer mourner. She also
tries to help connect unidentified missing migrants with their families
. It is about humanizing, about bringing people closer
and giving a voice to all those who can no
longer defend themselves. Barry's resting place in Pinar Cemetery
shows the scale of the crisis. Here, migrants
occupy more than 30 slots in burial walls and as
their numbers grow and space runs out, the cemetery
has requested an extension. These Mourners are saying goodbye
to nine people who died during the Canary's worst shipwreck
on record in September, 27 migrants were found alive
when a boat capsized. Spain's coast guard said there
had been 84 on board. Nine people were buried
in El Hierro. The rest are believed to have
sunk into the ocean. A local judge is investigating
what happened at the time. There were only two
cadaver refrigerators on viro seven corpses had to be placed
in a room normally used for wakes which could be
cooled close to zero degrees. Celsius, Modesto Martinez
, the island's only forensic pathologist examined the bodies dehydration
, hypothermia. That is the main cause of death
for all of them. Hoping to retire. Martinez
moved to El Hierro from nearby Tenerife in 2022.
When only one migrant had arrived dead on the southernmost
Canary island. A year later, official data showed
there were 11 deaths. And so far in 2024
33 people have arrived dead or died shortly afterwards.
Last month, the regional government installed six new refrigerators
in the island's ports but processing the corpses isn't the
only challenge confirming the identities of the dead can take
months. Most migrants throw their ID cards overboard.
A Spanish security source told Reuters unidentified, they believe
it will be harder for authorities to prove their country
of origin and send them back. Martinez says for
over 90% of migrant deaths, no match is found
. It's too complicated to trace relatives. He says
or secure DNA samples from Africa. Migrant arrivals to
the archipelago rose 12% between January and October this year
. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, the International Organization
for Migration, I says the estimated number of dead
or disappeared was up 61% in that time. All
this as overall irregular arrivals to Europe have declined.
Andrea Garcia Borja works for the IO MS missing migrants
program. She says boats have been coming from further
away in West Africa and smugglers are packing up to
300 people onto each open topped vessel, identifying the
bodies. She says is complex because it involves crossing
often more than one international border or disappearing in international
waters, for example, and it makes it extremely
difficult uh for the families of the missing who are
usually not in the country. An Interior Ministry spokesperson
told Reuters, Spain has no official database on dead
migrants. It only counts those arriving alive in 2021
. The IOM said the specific procedures needed to search
for and identify missing or dead migrants didn't exist in
Spain. It called for a centralized mechanism to be
created. Spain's Justice Ministry did not respond to questions
on whether it had implemented the recommendations. The Interior
Ministry said Spain's justice system and Civil Guard police investigate
migrant deaths at sea if there is evidence of corpses
missing but declined to elaborate. Despite the difficulties,
Marich says she will continue her mission to connect missing
migrants with their loved ones. We are always dealing
with a puzzle. We are always relying on someone's
testimony. We are always depending on dates. We
are always depending perhaps on that last call or that
last message someone might have sent from a boat.