UNHCR says 144 refugees and migrants reported dead or missing off Mauritania

The United Nations said on Tuesday that 144 refugees and migrants were reported dead or missing after maritime incidents off Mauritania last week.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said three rescue and disembarkation operations were carried out between July 14 and 18 in Nouadhibou, bringing 387 people of various sub-Saharan nationalities safely ashore.

UNHCR said 143 people were reported dead or missing from one boat that had left Bufalo in Gambia for Spain and was rescued on Saturday after nearly 25 days stranded at sea. The agency said 38 people from that vessel were brought safely ashore. It said two Senegalese children who had lost all their family members during the journey were among the survivors.

A second rescue operation on Saturday brought 179 people to safety in Nouadhibou. A third operation on July 14 rescued 170 people from a vessel where one person had died, the agency said.

UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said the reported deaths and disappearances followed attempts to travel by sea from West Africa toward Europe. He said the Atlantic route from West Africa toward the Canary Islands remained one of the world’s deadliest mixed movement corridors because of long distances, unpredictable ocean conditions, overcrowded and unseaworthy boats, and limited access to timely rescue.

UNHCR said arrivals to Europe on major routes had fallen sharply this year compared with last year, but deaths and disappearances at sea remained at alarming levels. Saltmarsh said arrivals to the Canary Islands were down 61 percent compared with 2025, while the Spanish archipelago had still recorded 4,400 arrivals as of July 15.

UNHCR said many refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe were setting off from more than 2,000 kilometres away from their intended destination. The agency said 17 disembarkations had been recorded so far in 2026 in Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, with 2,147 people rescued.