Spain’s government is paying increased attention to the situation on the Canary Islands again after nine people died while trying to reach the archipelago in the Atlantic and dozens remain missing. With a recent rise in number of migrant arrivals, officials are scrambling to find ways to address the situation.
While last week's tragedy off the coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro was confirmed to have cost nine lives, 27 people were successfully rescued in a series of night-time operations.
According to authorities, however, there may have been a total of up to 90 people on board the vessel, which could likely mean that the number of missing people could be at least 48 individuals.
Rescue operations have now been called off, as officials have announced that they are now focusing on recovering the bodies of those who are presumed dead.
According to Spanish government sources, the migrant boat had departed from Nouadhibou in Mauritania, which is situated some 800 kilometers away from the archipelago.
In terms of the death toll of migrants in and around the Canary Islands, this incident could be one of the deadliest accidents in the past 30 years if the missing are ultimately confirmed as dead.
According to the Reuters news agency, the deadliest migrant tragedy recorded to date in the Canaries occurred in 2009 off the island of Lanzarote, when 25 people died in a shipwreck.
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Skyrocketing arrivals of youths
The Canary Islands, which are located off Africa's northwestern coast, have become a highly attractive destination for migrants and refugees departing from the African mainland, since they are Spanish territory and therefore form part of the European Union.
Especially young people from the African mainland seek to reach the group of seven islands: according to official statistics, they now make up more than one in ten of the arrivals.
The high number of youth arrivals, especially unaccompanied minors, is cause for great concern amid local officials, as Spanish law dictates that regional authorities are responsible for the guardianship of minors.
This means that the asylum cases of youths cannot be processed by the central government in Madrid, nor can they be moved to the mainland for housing and schooling.
The head of the regional government of the Canaries, Fernando Clavijo, urged political parties to amend this law to allow migrants under the age of 18 to be transferred to other regions in Spain, highlighting that the islands are overwhelmed, with around 5,500 migrant minors under its care at the present.
He stressed that the Canaries only have capacity for about a third of that number.
Read AlsoCanary Islands preparing to care for up to 16,000 migrant minors
A political see-saw situation
Negotiations between the central government and the regional government of the Canary Islands to allow the transfer of minor migrants to the mainland continue.
However, due to the fact that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is leading a minority government, the main opposition Popular Party (PP) is also part of the discussions; some fear that they could derail a deal, with a rhetoric that falsely equates an overall rise in crime in the country with a rise in migration.
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Saving lives despite rising arrival rates
According to official figures, nearly 31,000 refugees and migrants have managed to reach the Canary Islands so far this year — more than double the rate of arrivals compared to the same last year.
In 2023, a new record of nearly 40,000 migrants entered the archipelago successfully. If the current arrival rates continue, that record could likely be broken before the end of the year. Clement weather conditions on shore have lately tricked many people into embarking on the dangerous journey.
In order to get the upper hand on migration, the Spanish government has tried to sign a number of deals with countries located on the African mainland, such as Mauritania, which officials say have saved countless lives.
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said such cooperation had in fact prevented some 40 percent of planned "irregular departures" of migrants heading to the Canaries.
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with AFP, Reuters