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Due to the rapid growth of the number of immigrants in the Canary Islands, the Spanish government has decided to build emergency camps for thousands of people. In addition, Madrid is planning more and more returns to their countries of origin.
To contain the migration crisis in the Canary Islands, Spain wants to create temporary reception centers for up to 7,000 people in the Atlantic Islands. The Minister of Migration, José Luis Escrivá, promised during a visit to Las Palmas that these camps would be available “in just a few weeks.” They will be built on the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura according to information on the ground or in buildings of the Ministry of Defense.
In addition, work will also be done on the construction of “more stable centers” for 7,000 migrants, Escrivá said. The Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, meanwhile, promised more funds for the maritime rescue service.
Negotiations with Morocco on faster deportations
Autonomous politicians accuse the central government of abandoning the Canary Islands during the crisis. The rescue services and the police are completely overwhelmed. The human rights organization Human Rights Watch recently criticized the migrants’ hygiene conditions and conditions as unacceptable after a visit to the refugee camp in Gran Canaria.
Meanwhile, the Madrid government refuses to bring the migrants to the continent. One does not want to convey the message that the Canary Islands served as a stepping stone to Europe, he said. With few exceptions, Madrid strives to repatriate all migrants arriving in the Canary Islands, the newspaper “El Mundo” reported this week, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, visited the Moroccan government in Rabat and stressed: “Migration policy is determined by the EU, not just Spain.” It’s about fighting illegal immigration. Grande-Marlaska negotiated faster deportations with his Moroccan colleague Abdelouafi Laftit. Since the beginning of the year, more and more migrants have left Morocco, some 110 kilometers away, on boats to the Canary Islands.
Ten times more migrants than in the same period last year
According to the United Nations Agency for Migration (IOM), this year alone a total of 18,000 people have arrived in the Canary Islands. This is ten times more than in the same period last year. About 5,500 of the migrants are currently temporarily housed in 17 hotels; Due to the corona pandemic, the Canary Islands are currently not as crowded as this time of year.
More and more people die on the dangerous journey to the Canary Islands. In late October alone there was a serious shipwreck off the Senegal coast of West Africa, with at least 140 people drowned. According to the international migration agency IOM, it is the worst maritime accident so far this year.
With information from Dunja Sadaqi, ARD-Studio Nordwestafrika
