El Hierro: This tiny Canary Island is turning into a migrant hotspot in Europe

The small Canary Island of El Hierro in Spain has become a prominent migrant hotspot for Europe. But the place has also been recording an increase in tragic deaths. So far this year, 33 irregular migrants reached the island dead or died shortly after arriving.

The numbers are concerning. The number of migrants taking on the treacherous journey for the Spanish archipelago is running at an all-time high. But the rate of migrants going missing or dying on the journey is rising five times faster.

20,000 illegal migrants land in El Hierro in 2024

Modesto Martinez, 68, is the only forensic pathologist in El Hierro – home to about 11,400 people. He recently moved to the Canary Island, hoping the place to be quieter. Instead, he has been called out day and night to autopsy bodies of dead asylum seekers.

So far in 2024, nearly 20,000 illegal migrants reached the island, as per the Red Cross. The cause of death is almost the same most of the times: dehydration, hypothermia hypothermia and drinking seawater. Spain has no official database of dead migrants.