As a result of the EU migration agreement with North Africa, smugglers are switching to weakly controlled routes in the Mediterranean. More than 13,000 people have arrived on El Hierro in three months. The island is not up to it.
On the petrol cans there are still the Koran, a few biscuits and wet clothes: traces of the dangerous journey across the open Atlantic in an abandoned boat at the quay of La Restinga on the Canary Island of El Hierro – it’s hard to imagine that 68 people traveled hundreds of kilometers in it for days .
Not far away is another brightly painted fishing boat. A man in a protective suit dismantles it into individual parts. Next door, fisherman Jesús Machín brings in his catch: tuna and sea bream.
When the small harbor was full of refugee boats last summer, his cooperative had to close its fish shop there, says Machín. Everything was cordoned off by the authorities. Nevertheless, the fishermen wanted to show solidarity: “We try to help as much as possible. They are people fleeing tragedies or wars.” However, we don’t know exactly what kind of people are coming to Europe, whether they are terrorists or criminals.
The people who made it to their longed-for place in Europe on the recently landed boats have already left the harbor. They receive first aid and are registered in a tent camp in the interior of the island. Many volunteers are already there, alerted via their WhatsApp group. Everyone does what they can and what is needed at the moment, explains a helper on the way to the tent camp. They breathe a sigh of relief because this time none of those who arrived have to go to the hospital and everyone survived.
“This is beyond our capabilities”
The area on which the tents are located is actually used for an event in the spring. David Cabrera, the island’s vice president, comes by to see how both things can work: refugee aid and everyday life on the island. The island has tried to deal with this situation to the best of its ability, he says. “This is beyond our means; we are not prepared to take in so many people.”
The Spanish government and the EU must help. This is what regional politicians want since the so-called West African escape route has become increasingly frequented by people wanting to get to the EU from Africa. According to information from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, a total of more than 13,000 migrants arrived on the Canary Islands via these routes in the first three months of this year alone, five times as many as in the first quarter of the previous year.
Migration researcher considers the crisis to be small
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently signed a migration agreement with Mauritania. The EU is giving money so that Mauritania can better control its coast. A similar deal already exists with Tunisia. But the tugboats are already apparently bypassing the controls off the coast and choosing the more dangerous course far away from the coast on the open sea.
This is exactly the reason why so many boats end up in El Hierro, which is further away from the African coast than the other Canary Islands. Migration researcher Gerald Knaus points out that a particularly large number of people die on this route. We are dealing with a dramatic migration. But even if small islands here have to support large numbers of people, the really big crisis in Europe is caused by the refugee movements from Ukraine.
Host families – and sharp comments
The vast majority of migrants who arrive in El Hierro leave the island again after 72 hours at the latest. They are taken to facilities in Tenerife or mainland Spain. Only minors stay longer on El Hierro, in special accommodation or with families – there are currently a few hundred.
Gilberto Carballo and Teseida Padrón took in two Senegalese foster children last year. The half-brothers Adama and Baye came with their father in the boat; their mothers are in Senegal and the boys’ future is uncertain. But first they experience everyday family life in Spanish; they can get along well with the language.
They still have to get used to school, says foster mother Padrón, noting that not everyone here welcomes foster children with open arms. She recently heard a mother say to a group of underage migrants at a playground that it feels like they are in Africa.
Island Vice President Cabrera nevertheless praises the residents’ great willingness to help. And she explains it like this: Many people here have a history of migration in their families. In the last century, many Canarians were drawn to Central and South America because of the great poverty on the islands. But, says Cabrera, everything has its limits. The small island of El Hierro is now discussing its borders – just like the large EU.