2023-10-20 02:03:56
The latest wave of migration to the Canary Islands has unleashed all the alarms. The archipelago received 8,571 people aboard 384 boats during the first 15 days of October, exorbitant numbers that translate into 571 daily arrivals during the fortnight and which have continued to grow in recent days.
According to the latest report issued by the Ministry of the Interior, we are facing a new record in the arrival of foreigners to the Canary Islands aboard precarious boats, unprecedented numbers since the cayucos crisis of 2006, when the Canary Islands route recorded its historical maximum (accounting for 31,678 people). In fact, taking into account that the last quarter of the year is when the migratory phenomenon is most active due to the good state of the sea, the Canarian authorities warn that this ceiling could be exceeded. So far this year, the Canary Islands have received more than 25,000 migrants and, if the same evolution continues, the 2006 figures could increase.
Although the first months of the year seemed to show certain signs of stabilization (even decline), this downward trend was broken as soon as the summer started and has not stopped increasing since then, representing an 80% increase in arrivals. than last year at this same time.
Emergency situation
Given this migratory surge, the Secretary of State for Migration has approved the emergency situation, an administrative procedure that does not require approval by the Council of Ministers and, therefore, allows bureaucratic procedures to be streamlined. In this way it is possible to open more places and have a budget in a faster and more agile way to reduce the pressure that the archipelago is going through.
On the other hand, the acting Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, traveled yesterday to the island of El Hierro, the most affected, and met with the personnel dedicated to caring for migrants in search of solutions. The meeting was attended by the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, the Government delegate, Anselmo Pestana, and the president of the Cabildo of El Hierro, Alpidio Armas, as well as representatives of the entities that work in the area.
Escrivá announced an allocation of 50 million euros for the management of the nearly 4,000 migrant minors under the guardianship of the autonomous Government.
Likewise, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, was in the islands days before and announced that for a month and a half he will reinforce the surveillance carried out on the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania with a CN-235 plane from the Civil Guard. the collaboration of both countries to prevent boats and canoes with migrants from leaving for the islands, an effort that has made it possible to stop the departure of 12,5000 people so far this year.
Marlaska also highlighted the improvement of the infrastructure intended for the first reception of people who arrive to the islands through this route that has been carried out since 2018, as well as the increase in the National Police and Civil Guard staff in El Hierro, the island most affected by the rebound, motivated by the destabilization in the Sahel and Senegal.
However, the migration phenomenon continues. Yesterday, Maritime Rescue disembarked 340 people, 59 of them minors, who were traveling in four boats to Fuerteventura, Tenerife and El Hierro. And another 96 in waters near Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
The Mediterranean route is also growing
The Canary Islands route is, in view of the data, the most affected destination, but not the only one. The Mediterranean route also increased during this same period. Although the figures are not as striking as those of the Canary archipelago, since Pedro Sánchez’s change of course with respect to the Sahara, this route has also registered a greater number of migrants than in previous years. Although to a lesser extent, entries to the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands by sea have also registered an increase, going from 9,803 to 12,098, which represents an increase of 23.4%.
The autonomous cities have been the least affected by the migration phenomenon. Arrivals to Ceuta by sea have been reduced by half (54 migrants compared to 111 in 2022), while Melilla has maintained a very similar volume (from 118 to 123).
The number of immigrants arriving irregularly to the autonomous cities by jumping the border fence has been reduced by more than 50%, especially due to the stop in Melilla, where there were several massive jumps of migrants. In that autonomous city, 134 foreigners were rescued until October 15, compared to 1,155 the previous year (88.4% less). In Ceuta the drop is 0.9%, going from 860 people to 868.
Even so, there is an increase in the total number of arrivals of foreigners to Spain both by sea and by land, specifically 46.3% more than in the same period of the previous year: until October 15, 36,814 people arrived compared to to the 25,169 that did so during the same period of the previous year.
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