Nearly 1000 illegal immigrants reach the Canaries from Senegal over the weekend

Nearly 1000 illegal immigrants reach the Canaries from Senegal over the weekend
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By m.p. - May 15, 2006 - 3:54 PM

Some of the 323 illegal immigrants who arrived in the Canary Islands from Senegal on Sunday. Photo - EFE.

An emergency meeting was held in Madrid today to discuss the problem

Another 323 illegal immigrants have arrived in the Canary Islands on Sunday. They came over the sea from Senegal, in 6 open boats known as ‘cayucos.’ Two came in to the south of Tenerife with 67 and 59 people on board, another in Gran Canaria, carrying 12 people, and the fourth, with 105 passengers, on La Gomera.
The first of the last two cayucos was intercepted south of Tenerife, with 43 people on board. Twelve of the passengers were in such a bad state after their journey that they had to be hospitalised. Another vessel, carrying 37 people, was intercepted off Fuertenventura.
The avalanche of Senegalese immigrants began on Friday, when 195 arrived, with an additional 456 arriving on 6 Cayucos on Saturday.
It brings the total number of Senegalese who have tried to reach the Canaries over the sea up to 974 in the space of just three days. Thirty three of them were children.

The Canaries government has accused central government of turning their backs on this serious problem. Miguel Becerra, spokesman for the regional government, said in a press conference ‘the government, it seems, is only concerned about the situation of Repsol in Bolivia, and how that affects petroleum investment, but they are not addressing what is happening in the Canaries, when the problem here concerns human lives.’ Becerra went on to say that ‘Madrid has brought all its diplomacy and its resources to bear on the investments of one company in Bolivia, but it does not fulfil the promises it made on illegal immigration.’

The government delegate for the Canaries, José Segura, announced on Saturday that the new joint patrols organised by Spain and Mauritania would start work today.

José Segura has today said that the lack of the development of the economies of countries such as Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Conakri and Nigeria, was responsible for the massive flow of immigrants into Spain.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, has today met with ministers Rubalcaba and Caldera to discuss what can be done. Among the measures being investigated is a greater use of satellite technology with both air and sea patrols to be stepped up in the short term.

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