The figures made public by the Ministry of the Interior confirm what migration experts have been warning since June: an autumn of Senegalese cayucos heading for the Canary Islands will break the record for irregular entries into the country. And yesterday was the first one. Since there have been fortnightly registrations, so many people have never arrived concentrated in 15 days. From October 1 to 15, 8,561 immigrants arrived. Since the beginning of the year, 23,537 people have arrived in the Canary Islands – more than in all of 2020, the second highest number. Therefore, the last record, which almost no one doubts will also be broken, is that of the famous cayucos crisis in 2006, when 31,678 arrivals were reached throughout the year.
The head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, traveled to the islands yesterday and presided over the meeting of the Immigration Coordination Authority, in which all the bodies and administrations with competences in this matter are represented. The Central Government remains convinced – and it is not budging at all – that its recipe remains the most effective to stop the problem: work with the countries of origin and transit of the migrants on the so-called Canary route. Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, mainly. As a result of his work, the departure of 12,500 people has been stopped, according to the data provided by the minister yesterday.
But all eyes are on Senegal since the African country plunged into a political and social crisis in June due to the arrest of the main opposition leader. An outburst that has resulted in this migration crisis with few precedents. Police sources say that the Senegalese authorities have lowered border control: those who get on the cayuco are mostly young people without a future who shake the streets because of the lack of opportunities. The minister will travel in the next few days to Senegal – after having canceled the visit scheduled for yesterday – to negotiate with this country to strengthen control on its coasts. In exchange, according to ministerial sources, the central government is willing to grant financial aid – in addition to the exchange of information – to fight human trafficking.
For the time being, the Interior will send for a month and a half a 235 aircraft from the Civil Guard to monitor the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania – in collaboration with third-party police forces – as well as another, a Beechcraft Super King Air 350i, which will be deployed in patrol duties from the Canary Islands. At the same time, repatriation flights of immigrants to Senegal are already being prepared. Refunds that the African country, as a general rule, does not usually accept.
Despite the alarming numbers of arrivals, the images of 2020 have not been repeated – for the moment – at the Arguineguín pier (Gran Canaria), where more than 2,500 immigrants came to crowd. Once the National Police takes the affiliation data, the adults are being referred expressly to other islands and the peninsula. The Ministry of Migration insists on the idea that the comprehensive reception system is sufficiently strengthened to withstand the wave of migration, after the Russian invasion managed to accommodate more than 20,000 refugees.
However, yesterday the emphasis was placed again on unaccompanied foreign minors, the guardianship of whom corresponds to the autonomous communities. The Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, assured that a hundred unaccompanied children and teenagers are arriving a day. The Canarian authorities have taken in 3,800 minors, which is why Clavijo asked for a new solidarity distribution so that they can be transferred urgently to the peninsula. Last week the Ministry of Social Rights and the communities agreed to distribute 360. But the Canary Islands demand more.
Yesterday a minister aligned himself with the Canarian request. It was the head of Migrations, José Luis Escrivá, who criticized the rest of the communities for their lack of solidarity with the Canary Islands. This kind of distribution is always voluntary. “It seems really insufficient for the challenge facing the Canary Islands and I think that not all communities are showing the level of solidarity they should”, criticized the acting minister yesterday.
Last week, 500 unaccompanied minors arrived. Police sources warn that more and more minors are coming aboard cayucos.
