Spain: 1,000 migrants reach Canary Islands in 3 days
More Sub-Saharan migrants are attempting the dangerous journey across the Atlantic to Spain’s Canary Islands reports Africa news and agencies.
18 boats filled with more than 1,000 migrants from sub-Saharan countries crashed the shores of the Canary Islands from the 3rd to the 5th of February.
Among the migrants, a body was found in one of the boats, Spain’s rescue service said on the 5th.
Despite the danger of the journey, many young migrants insist on taking their chances as there are few opportunities and sometimes political turmoil at home.
However, there are grand plans in the pipeline aimed at stemming the flow, tackling the problem at source.
To try to reduce the amount of migrants arriving on the islands, Spain and the European Union have cooperation agreements with both Mauritania and neighbouring Senegal.
Officials say 7,270 migrants arrived in the archipelago off northwest Africa in January alone. This amount accumulates to as many migrants as in the first six months of 2023.
READ: Boat carrying record 280 migrants reaches Canary Islands
In addition, Spain’s interior ministry says almost double the number of migrants from 2022 arrived by boat in 2023 with a record 55,618 migrants, most of them in the Canary Islands.
The Spanish non-profit organisation Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) says more than 6,600 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by boat last year, a majority of them on the Atlantic route. The figure is more than double the number reported by the organisation from the previous year.
Caminando Fronteras says it compiles its own figures from families of migrants and rescue statistics.
READ: 39 Moroccans feared dead in Canary Islands boat tragedy
Most of the boats depart from Mauritania. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the West African country on the 8th of February to encourage authorities to try to reduce the departures.
Africa news and agencies.
