Better weather conditions help slow down La Palma wildfire in Spain’s Canary Islands
Spanish authorities say more favorable weather conditions have helped firefighters slow down the advance of a wildfire on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands that has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents.
NGO asks Spain to halt possible return of Nigerian stowaways
A human rights organization is asking the Spanish government to halt the potential return to Nigeria of three men found traveling on an oil tanker’s rudder after an 11-day ocean voyage from Lagos, Nigeria to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
Canary Islands: More than 400 migrants rescued in Atlantic
Spanish rescuers have saved and disembarked more than 400 migrants and asylum seekers to the Canary Islands in the past two days as they attempted to reach the Atlantic Ocean archipelago from West Africa on overcrowded and often unsafe boats.
Migrant arrivals to Europe lower but deaths remain high
But deaths and disappearances on sea routes remain alarmingly high with only a small fraction of bodies recovered and victims identified. Arrivals in the Canaries, considered part of the Schengen area, increased by 750% last year. The International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project has confirmed the death or disappearances of nearly 2,300 people last year. This number is higher than in 2019 when 2,095 victims were recorded and slightly lower than in 2018 which had 2,344. The Associated Press has most recently come across an example of uncounted deaths after interviewing two survivors who reached the Canary Islands last November.
Boats emerge from Sahara sand to transport migrants to Spain
Migrant smugglers recently tried to retrieve a boat buried in the Sahara sand. The Associated Press witnessed the recent boat handover, a crucial but little-seen piece of the migrant smuggling business. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)DAKHLA – Beneath a star-packed sky in the Sahara, smugglers and handymen unearth a boat buried in the sand, a made-to-order vessel for carrying migrants from the North African coast to Spain’s Canary Islands. A resident of Dakhla who organizes trips for migrants said economic difficulties drove him to work for a smuggling network. Already six deaths have been recorded in 2021 on the Canary route, most recently a boy who drowned.
Spain's foreign minister visits Senegal to discuss migration
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)DAKAR – Spain’s foreign minister met Sunday with Senegal's president in the West African country’s capital Sunday to discuss the sudden increase of Senegalese migrants attempting to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya met with President Macky Sall in Dakar to discuss migration and border cooperation between Spain, the European Union and Senegal. Human rights groups have been warning about the reopening of the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands since late 2019, when arrivals began increasing slowly. He participated in the meeting between Spain's foreign minister and Senegalese counterpart Aïssata Tall Sall. Sarr said they would work with Spain to increase legal ways for Senegalese to work in Europe, including circular migration programs.
Spain in diplomatic push over migrant flow to Canary Islands
(AP Photo/Javier Bauluz)MADRID – The Spanish government is ratcheting up its response to the steady build-up of migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands from Africa, including a fresh diplomatic offensive. Moroccans have been the most numerous among recent migrant arrivals to the Spanish archipelago, whose nearest islands lie around 70 miles (110 kms) west of the north African nation. Around half of those arrivals —and most of the deaths— have been in the past 30 days, a spike that has strained resources on the Canary Islands. Spanish Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, also on the island, pledged more resources to the stretched maritime rescue services. The IOM's Spain envoy, María Jesús Herrera, who was on a field visit in the islands this week, described the situation as “critical."
Spain locates 320 migrants in 10 boats off Canary Islands
MADRID – Spanish rescue services said Tuesday they intercepted more than 320 migrants in 10 boats found off the Canary Islands archipelago. The service said the steady stream of boats were located off the island of Gran Canaria between midnight and early morning. The migrants, all from the northwest African countries, were taken to the Arguineguín dock on the southwestern coast of the island. More than 2,000 migrants, many from sub-Saharan countries, are being kept at the dock in recent days. The ministry said the total number of migrant arrivals by boat to Spain was 32,427 for the same period, up 45% from last year.
Spain searches for answer to migrants eyeing Canary Islands
MADRID – Spain’s government is stepping up its response to a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Atlantic from Africa to the Canary Islands, though there was little new in the measures announced Friday. More than 16,000 migrants have arrived in the Spanish islands off northwest Africa this year, hoping to ensure a better life on European soil. In the whole of last year, around 1,500 arrived in the archipelago better known as a European vacation destination. The Spanish foreign ministry, meanwhile, is to spend an additional 500 million euros ($590 million) on cooperation programs with those countries. The new migrant focus on the perilous Canary Islands route, first seen in 2006, has come as authorities crack down on previously popular passages across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to European Union countries.
Tensions in packed migrant shelter on Spain´s Canary Islands
BARCELONA – Overwhelmed authorities on the Canary Islands are asking Spain’s government for help amid rising tensions between migrants and police at a crowded, makeshift tent camp for a steady stream of arrivals from west Africa. “This temporary camp that was set up on Aug. 20 for 400 people has become permanent due to the reluctance of Spain’s government to open up military installations,” Bueno told Telecinco TV. The military installations were used to house migrants when the islands saw large arrivals in 2006. The representative of Spain’s government in the Canary Islands did not immediately respond to questions by the Associated Press regarding the mayor’s request. Roughly half of the migrants to reach Spain by sea this year have arrived on the Canary Islands, a total of over 14,600 people that includes 2,950 just in the past week, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Spanish islands struggle with migration surge amid pandemic
While Mediterranean crossings are down this year, arrivals on the Canary islands across a treacherous part of the Atlantic Ocean are up nearly 700% on the year. Beefed-up security in the Mediterranean has reduced migration from Africa to the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands in 2020, with 30% fewer arrivals between January and mid-October compared to a year earlier. But the surge in traffic to the Canary Islands comes at a high cost in human lives. Arguing that they lack enough resources, local and regional officials in the Canary Islands have asked the Spanish government for more help, including the use of two military facilities to process the migrants. Prime Minister Sánchez told parliament Wednesday that “we have to do much more” in the Canaries.
5 Things to Know for Today
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:1. MIGRANT ROUTE TAKES DEADLY TURN They are increasingly crossing a treacherous part of the Atlantic to reach the Canary Islands in what has become one of the most dangerous migration routes to European territory. STORIED POLITICAL NAME FALLS Sen. Edward Markey defeats Rep. Joe Kennedy III in a hard-fought Democratic primary for Senate the first time a Kennedy has lost a race for Congress in Massachusetts. NOTORIOUS KHMER ROUGE COMMANDER DIES Kaing Guek Eav, who admitted overseeing the torture and killings of as many as 16,000 Cambodians while running the regimes most notorious prison, was 77. FIRST LADYS EX-ADVISER SAYS SHE TAPED CALLS FOR PROTECTION Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, author of a new book about Melania Trump, says she needed evidence to protect herself amid questions about costs of the inauguration.
Spiritual ceremony takes place before exhumation of human remains found near San Antonio’s Milam Park
This was done after human remains were found near Milam Park in downtown San Antonio near Santa Rosa and Houston Streets during an archeological investigation before the start of city street construction. A Bexar County District Court granted a petition from city officials for removal of human remains on August 14. San Antonio city officials also received approval for an exhumation permit from the Texas Historical Commission on August 24. Human remains discovered in downtown San Antonio park during city archeological investigationThe remains will not be buried again until the construction of the bond projects is completed, which is scheduled for Summer 2023. “The human remains and all associated archeological objects will be temporarily stored at UTSA Center for Archaeological Research to await reinterment,” Conger said.