The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will visit Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic

this June. The islands are destinations for thousands of migrants seeking asylum in Europe,

and it's a dangerous, desperate journey. Many have died trying to reach European shores.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

This is the Spanish island of El Hiero in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa,

one of the most southwesterly points of European Union territory.

It's a site that will raise the spirits of thousands who dream of reaching Europe.

Proof that despite the massive risks, it's possible to make it from West Africa to Spain's

Canary Island Archipelago.

This Spanish Coast Guard vessel is helping a traditional boat called the Cayucal reach shore after

a hellish journey.

When you're crossing the Atlantic and you're departing from Mauritania shores or Senegal,

which is even farther, the journey can be anywhere from five to ten days sometimes.

Lauren Seabird is a researcher for Human Rights Watch, a non-profit with a global reach.

And then if they get lost, which does happen, then your supplies run out and water runs

out.

The engine can break down and you can be drifting at sea for weeks.

And it just can be really horrific with the lives that are lost.

Funerals of migrants who've died during the crossing are a common occurrence in the Canary Islands.

These graveyards contain just a handful of the thousands who've succumbed to the waves in recent years.

Alpido Amas is the president of El Jiro's Island Council.

We're talking about people who have been found on the American coast, mummified. Yes, if they drift off course and don't find El-Yaro, they end up in South America, so it is

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