Hundreds of migrants have reached the Canary Islands from the coast of Africa in the past few days. At least one person lost their life. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is meeting with the islands' regional president, Fernando Clavijo, to discuss the situation they say has become 'acute'.
Spanish authorities reported on Friday morning (August 23) that the latest of many boats to arrive in the Canary Islands was carrying six babies as well as 167 other adults and children. They said the crowded wooden vessel, spotted a mile from the small island of El Hierro, also had a dead body on board.
The group was among several hundred people to have reached the archipelago in the past few days. The majority have been rescued near El Hierro, the smallest and most remote of the islands.
Last year, thousands of migrants arrived on El Hierro, even though the journey from the west African coast is much longer and more dangerous. Some say this route has become popular with smugglers because it avoids patrols in the waters of Senegal and Mauritania.
Also read: Canary Islands: Regional government warns El Hierro is 'becoming Lampedusa'
Among the migrants arriving this week were people from Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Conakry, who said they had spent seven days at sea, the news agency EFE reported. Other migrants were said to be from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Sanchez in talks on migration crisis
According to official data, more than 22,300 undocumented migrants have traveled to the Canary Islands from Africa since the start of this year, an increase of just over a quarter on the same period in 2023.
On Friday, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, traveled to La Palma island to meet with the region’s president Fernando Clavijo.
Regional authorities in the Canaries have been calling for assistance from Spain’s central government, saying the situation has reached crisis point. The situation is especially serious for children and adolescents who arrive unaccompanied by a relative or adult guardian.
There are currently 5,200 such minors in the islands, which lack the reception facilities to care for them.
Clavijo has been calling for a national deal which would require the other regions to take in some of the minors, but so far the proposal has been held up by political parties opposed to mandatory redistribution.
20 swim to Ceuta enclave
The failure to safeguard migrant minors also remains a serious issue in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, which borders Morocco. On Wednesday, around 20 young migrants managed to swim to the Spanish territory.
Their arrival brings the number of unaccompanied minors in the enclave to 434, around four times as many as the number of places for them in Ceuta’s reception centers.
In February, the government of Ceuta and the central interior ministry in Madrid agreed to relocate 87 of the minors to the mainland. So far, only 17 have been transferred, EFE reported on Wednesday.
Also read: Spain: Top court rules deportation of child migrants illegal
Minors should be distributed, Save the Children
Save the Children said this week that more than 2,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived in Spain in 2024. Describing the situation of the minors as one of "helplessness", the international charity said a coordinated solution for distributing the minors must be found to ensure they receive fair and dignified treatment.
"We are talking about the distribution of fewer than 3,000 children, a number that a country with our economy and demographic nature can absolutely handle," EFE quoted the group as saying.
After meeting with Clavijo, Sanchez will travel to Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia where he will hold meetings about strengthening cooperation with those countries with the aim of stopping irregular migration.
With EFE