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

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.’