Tide of 1,000 migrants swamps Canary Islands

[Ferran]

Tide of 1,000 migrants swamps Canary Islands

15 May 2006

SANTA CRUZ — The government is holding an emergency meeting to discuss how to deal with the arrival of nearly 1,000 migrants in the Canary Islands over the weekend.

Fifteen boats crammed with 974 migrants from Senegal have arrived since Friday and resources have become overwhelmed on the islands.

Different sources said that it is the largest wave of illegal African migrants to come to the Canary Islands so far this year, and the regional government has called the situation "very serious".

Most of the immigrants who have arrived are being housed in the Las Raices military barracks in the municipality of La Laguna on the island of Tenerife.

The largest wave of migrants came in on Saturday, when 456 Africans arrived in six boats in the port of Los Cristianos in the southern part of Tenerife, the same spot where 195 migrants had arrived aboard three vessels on Friday.

Between 2-4 March, a total of 478 illegal migrants arrived on the coasts of Gran Canaria, Tenerife and El Hierro.

In the face of the massive influx, Spanish deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the government will begin repatriating the undocumented migrants.

She added from Monday, Spain and Mauritania would begin a series of joint ocean patrols to monitor the illegal smuggling of people to the Canaries.

Fernandez de la Vega said that Madrid's aim is to have "legal, ordered and regular" immigration and that to achieve that it would take measures that included repatriation of illegal migrants.

"Everyone should know that anyone who arrives in an irregular manner will go" back, said Fernandez de la Vega.

But she added that humanitarian conditions would be provided for the people who arrive and the repatriations would be carried out "with all guarantees" of proper processing and treatment.

Canary Islands government spokesman Miguel Becerra told EFE that the situation is "very serious" and condemned what he claimed was the "lackadaisical" handling of the matter by Madrid.

"The national government, it seems, is only concerned about the situation of Repsol in Bolivia and whether or not (La Paz's recent nationalization of the energy sector) will endanger the oil firm's investments, but it's not paying attention to what's occurring in the Canaries, when here the problem is about human lives," Becerra said.

He said: "Last weekend, all the records for immigrant arrivals were broken and this weekend, far from things improving, the situation has got worse."

In Madrid, the social policy secretary of the opposition Popular Party, Ana Pastor, complained that the government was acting "unwillingly" regarding the arrival of the nearly 900 sub-Saharan migrants.

Pastor criticized Fernandez de la Vega for announcing a series of measures after learning of the migrants' arrivals when, in Pastor's judgment, what the government should be doing is complying with the signed agreements with different countries to control the movement of immigrants.

For years, with the arrival of good weather in the Spring, thousands of African migrants have tried to cross the waters of the Atlantic and Mediterranean to get to Spain, where they hope to remain and find jobs or to use it as a route to other European countries.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]



Source: http://www.expatica.com/source/site_...anary+Islands+

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Ferran

Fifteen boats crammed with 974 migrants from Senegal have arrived since Friday and resources have become overwhelmed on the islands.

While in the islands, I heared that they were using barcos nodriza (wet nurse ships).

These are ships which are on their way to Puerto de la Luz, in the Gran Canaria, or Puerto de Santa Cruz, in Tenerife, and leave the boat with the immigrants not long miles away from the islands in exchange for money, saving them thus much of the journey.

The person who told me works in one hospital-ship (mainly help for fishing boats) who often collects immigrants from the sea, so you could say that he is a reliable source. I still haven't seen one single ship intervened for doing it though..

In the face of the massive influx, Spanish deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the government will begin repatriating the undocumented migrants.

Oh yes, she always says that, and then they repatriate only a few to pretend that they are doing their job.

She added from Monday, Spain and Mauritania would begin a series of joint ocean patrols to monitor the illegal smuggling of people to the Canaries.

Alright. Meaning that the Spanish patrols will have to go at the speed of the Mauritanian.. boats?

"Everyone should know that anyone who arrives in an irregular manner will go" back, said Fernandez de la Vega.

They must be freightened now. Surely they will think twice before trying from now on.

What a joke!

But she added that humanitarian conditions would be provided for the people who arrive and the repatriations would be carried out "with all guarantees" of proper processing and treatment.

The usual. The immigrants don't say were they are from, and so they say that they cannot repatriate them.

[Strengthandhonour]

Reminds me of the Italian crisis in Lampedusa

[Ederico]

Europe is invaded, it is useless downplaying the facts. Stating that Europe isn't invaded and is not in the process of an even more progressive quantitative invasion is not being moderate or avoiding alarmism and extremism. If Europe isn't invaded, there were never invasions in the history of mankind or some people need a braincheck. Invasions need not be military or violent, mere entry is enough, and the fact that our compatriots support such a thing speaks loads about them.

For an update from Malta, visit HERE.