At least 368 illegal immigrants paid for the dream of a better life in Europe with their lives last year off the coasts of Spain and Morocco, 80 more deaths than in 2004, Spain's APDHA aid organization said in Cadiz Saturday, according to DPA. As many as 226 drowned as they tried to cross from North Africa to the Canary Islands in small boats, but there were also many fatalities in Moroccan waters. Strict policing of the southern Spanish coast in the Straits of Gibraltar had devastating consequences, APDHA Director Rafael Lara said. It had led to more refugees attempting the much more dangerous route to the Canaries, Lara said.
