Spain and Senegal are working together to crack down on irregular migration, trafficking and smuggling networks, while a new IOM-led initiative in Mauritania and The Gambia hopes to address migrant deaths and disappearances along the Africa-Europe route.
Spain and Senegal’s intensified cooperation combatting human trafficking and smuggling networks has prevented 3,500 irregular migrant departures this year, according to Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Speaking after a bilateral meeting with his Senegalese counterpart, Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé, during the Ministerial Meeting of the International Alliance for Security in Abu Dhabi, Grande-Marlaska praised Senegal’s "daily and ongoing preventive effectiveness" and the close cooperation between the two nations’ security forces.
Surveillance efforts have reduced irregular arrivals in Spain from Senegalese coasts by more than 90 percent compared to 2024, Spanish news agency EFE reported on Tuesday, November 4.
"As of October 31 this year, fewer than 600 people have arrived irregularly in the Canary Islands from the Senegalese coast," Grande-Marlaska said, describing Senegal as "a key partner and ally of Spain in protecting vulnerable migrants, preventing deaths at sea, and tackling criminal networks."
Spain currently has forty security agents stationed in Senegal, working alongside the Gendarmerie and National Police through land, sea, and river patrols, supported by patrol boats, a helicopter, vehicles, and surveillance aircraft, according to EFE.
Both ministers committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation and engaging together in international efforts such as the Niamey Declaration (a commitment to combat smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons) and the International Security Alliance (to combat organized and transnational crime).
Arrivals on Canary Islands down, while Balearic Islands report inscrease
Since January, irregular arrivals to the Canary Islands have dropped by nearly 59 percent compared to the same period last year, while arrivals to the Balearic Islands have risen by 66 percent, mainly from Algeria, according to EFE.
The Spanish government will have taken in 567 unaccompanied migrant minors who sought asylum in the Canary Islands by the end of this week, following transfers mandated by the Supreme Court. The transfers comply with precautionary measures ordered by the court in March, requiring Spain's central government to assume responsibility for the care of these young asylum seekers.
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Missing migrants: IOM launches 'landmark initiative' in West Africa
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also announced on Tuesday a "landmark initiative" with The Gambia and Mauritania to strengthen national responses to migrant deaths and disappearances along routes connecting Africa and Europe.
The project in West Africa aims to improve coordination, cross-border cooperation, and institutional capacity to manage missing migrant cases, according to IOM. The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, and Red Cross Societies.
"By empowering national and local governments and strengthening cross-border cooperation, we are not only saving lives but also restoring hope and dignity to families who have waited too long for answers," said Sylvia Ekra, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
The initiative follows figures of over 30,000 recorded deaths in the Mediterranean and 5,000 along the Western African-Atlantic route, and recent tragedies like the August 2025 shipwreck off Nouakchott, Mauritania, that claimed at least 134 lives.
"Addressing the issue of missing migrants remains a key priority for the Government of The Gambia," said Foreign Minister Sering Modou Njie.
Mauritania’s Fatma Mohamed Salem, director of borders, refugee migration, and land affairs at the country's ministry of interior, emphasized hopes "to make visible the lives lost, support families in their search for answers, and strengthen prevention efforts."
With EFE
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