Smugglers exploit desperate migrants with false promises as Pakistanis are trafficked through Africa to the deadly waters off the Canary Islands.
What began as a hopeful journey toward Spain for 21-year-old Amir Ali ended in horror in the Atlantic Ocean. After paying $17,000 to human smugglers, Ali found himself on an overcrowded fishing boat packed with 85 other migrants, including dozens of Pakistanis. Ten days into the treacherous voyage from Mauritania to Spain’s Canary Islands, 44 of his compatriots were dead.
Their tragic story underscores how human smuggling networks are evolving — growing in sophistication and reach as stricter border controls force migrants to take longer, more perilous routes. For migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria, and Yemen, the West African coast is becoming a new launching point into Europe.
Ali’s journey, and that of fellow traveler Imran Iqbal, included stops in Ethiopia, Senegal, and Mauritania. The promise of a Spanish visa was replaced by extortion, beatings, and starvation in safe houses controlled by smugglers. Police and port officials were reportedly complicit in loading the migrants onto the doomed vessel.
The Atlantic route to Spain, now dubbed the world’s deadliest migration path, claimed nearly 10,000 lives in 2024 alone, according to Spanish rights group Walking Borders. Bodies are rarely recovered — some ships have washed up as far away as the Caribbean.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has responded with a crackdown on smuggling networks, arresting several low-level operatives. President Asif Ali Zardari vowed to hold the masterminds accountable. However, with smugglers continuously shifting locations and leveraging social media to lure new victims, enforcement remains a challenge.
“These are the houses of those who made it abroad,” Ali said, pointing to grand homes in his village. “People like me see them and dream without thinking.”
Despite rising death tolls, the flow of migrants along the Canary Islands route continues to grow. Global experts warn the humanitarian crisis will escalate unless international cooperation targets the smuggling networks at their source and addresses the root causes of economic migration.