Canary Islands: an unprecedented influx of migrants for 10 years

Group of migrants from sub-Saharan countries arriving on the island of Gran Canaria in November 2005 (Photo illustration).

BOJA SUAREZ / AFP

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A dormant migratory route has been reactivated despite its dangerousness.

Since the beginning of September, the Canary Islands have seen an increase in the arrivals of migrants from the African continent.

Crossings to the Spanish archipelago that had not reached, in two weeks, such a level for more than ten years.

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During the first two weeks of September, nearly 1,200 people landed

located opposite the African coast, according to official figures.

During a single day, up to 300 migrants disembarked on the archipelago when the weather was particularly favorable.

This is the first time since 2007 that such a figure has been reached.

Some embark from Morocco, a hundred kilometers away.

And many others make the trip from Senegal or The Gambia, covering more than 1,000 kilometers along the Atlantic coast.

This perilous route on a rough ocean can last up to a week, in makeshift boats.

According to a Spanish host NGO quoted by AFP, one in 16 migrants dies while attempting this crossing.

Already more than 250 dead in 2020

This path towards Europe, 

taken in the years 2006-2008 by tens of thousands of people, had been abandoned in favor of Mediterranean routes.

But lately, the agreements made by the European Union to control its borders with Libya, Turkey and especially Morocco a year ago, push migrants to the West, and therefore to the Canaries.

More than 5,000 people have illegally reached the archipelago since the start of this year 2020. At least 251 have died during the crossing.

This is more than for the whole of 2019, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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