In the Canary Islands, the migration situation concerns the authorities and emergency services. In the space of four days, since November 1, nearly 2,000 people have landed on the archipelago using makeshift boats. Among them, dozens of dead or missing.
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With our correspondent in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Nicolas Kirilowits
These figures are dizzying and confirm an already well-established observation: the crossing from Africa to the Canary Islands is now one of the most traveled in Europe. In total, since November 1, around twenty boats have arrived on the coasts of the archipelago. A phenomenon which is mainly explained, according to José Antonio Verona, one of the local leaders of the Red Cross, by mild weather: “ The sea is completely calm, the trade winds that normally reign here in the Canary Islands have greatly reduced and it is favorable for this type of crossing. »
Favorable conditions that do not prevent tragedies
According to a count by Spanish rescuers, 55 people have died or gone missing over the past four days while trying to reach the Canary Islands. A deadly crossing that many migrants find themselves forced to take for lack of an alternative, according to José Antonio Verona: “ Many borders are blocked, they are not allowed to exit from the North and therefore try to pass through the South. The only way out available to them is therefore the Canary Islands route, which is always the deadliest, but it is the only option available to them. »
“ Emergency resources responded this morning [lundi 4 novembre, NDLR] at the dock of Arrecife Lanzarote to 55 migrants rescued by the maritime rescue and security company Salvamento Maritimo aboard a boat near the island », announced the 112 Canaries emergency services via their X account.
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In Senegal, nearly 600 illegal migrants rescued at sea
Last week, the Senegalese Navy rescued 183 irregular migrants aboard a canoe on the maritime route to Europe off the national coast. The operation carried out off the coast of Djiffer, in the west, not far from the starting point of the boat in the Saloum delta, brings to 582 the number of migrants rescued in ten days, according to information provided by the Navy after three separate interventions.
THE Senegal is one of the main points of departure for the thousands of Africans who for years have been taking the perilous Atlantic route and trying to reach Europe, mainly via the Canary archipelago, aboard overloaded boats and often dilapidated.
Thousands of people have died on this road in recent years. The Senegalese Navy found a boat with at least 30 dead bodies at the end of September. At least 39 people had died two weeks earlier in the sinking of an overloaded canoe in Mbour (west).
Since the start of the year, 36,000 people have reached the shores of the Canaries. A figure which should further increase significantly by December 31 and which could well beat last year’s sad record of 40,000 people disembarked.
Also readFor many Senegalese migrants, arriving in the Canaries is just a dead end