More than 1,600 migrants have reached the Canary Islands by boat in the past few days. The islands in the Atlantic have become the main destination, especially for refugees from Senegal. Spain is concerned about the increase in irregular migration.
More and more refugee boats are currently arriving on the Canary Islands. Since last Friday alone, more than 1,600 migrants have arrived on the Spanish islands in the Atlantic. Most of the boats from the past few days have arrived on El Hierro. A boat with 229 migrants was accompanied to the island on Monday, and a ship with 85 people on board was brought to Tenerife. This was announced by the rescue service. On Saturday, a wooden boat carrying 321 people reached the island of El Hierro. The Spanish news agency Efe reported that this was the highest number of passengers on a boat arriving in the Canary Islands since the 1990s.
According to a spokesman for the rescue service, the refugees came from countries south of the Sahara. The boats mostly started in Senegal.
Dangerous Migration route leads to the Canary Islands
The seven islands in the Atlantic have now become the main destination for migrants from Senegal and other African countries trying to reach Spain: between January 1 and October 15 of this year, almost 23,500 migrants arrived by boat, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry the Canary Islands. That was an increase of 80 percent compared to the same period last year.
During a visit to the archipelago last week, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska attributed the “re-increase” in the number of migrants to a “destabilization of the Sahel region”. As a result of increased controls in the Mediterranean, the migration route via the Canary Islands has become more important in recent years, although it is long and dangerous.
Other refugees are trying to reach mainland Spain via the Mediterranean. Milder weather and calmer seas in September, October and sometimes November usually lead to an increase in the number of arriving migrants. According to the EU border agency Frontex, political instability in Senegal was also a “push factor” driving people to leave the country via the West African route.
Spain demands help from the EU
Spain expressed concern about the increase in irregular migration this year. The Euroland has already stated that it cannot cope with the situation without the EU’s help. The Atlantic migration route to the Canary Islands, typically used by African migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, is considered one of the highest death tolls in the world.