Med migrant surge – and Spain’s the new gateway
A SURGE in the number of African migrants trying to reach Spain has ‘overwhelmed’ the country’s rescue and humanitarian organisations, the UN refugee agency warned yesterday.
It called for ‘ urgent measures’ to tackle the flood of those risking their lives by crossing the Mediterranean in often unseaworthy boats.
Spanish officials rescued over 500 migrants from 17 vessels trying to cross the Mediterranean over the weekend.
Rescue crews plucked 293 people from nine boats on Saturday and a further 250 from eight boats on Sunday, three of which were in poor condition and later sank.
There have been growing concerns that the country may be unable to cope with the crisis as rising numbers cross from northWestern Africa to Spain.
The busy refugee route is replacing the usual way into Europe – by travelling to Italy and Greece from Libya. Almost as
‘All the organisations are overwhelmed’
many people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Spain so far this year as perished in the whole of 2017.
It is thought the rise in the number of those attempting the route may have been fuelled by an EU policy of helping Libya intercept migrants and return them, forcing those intent on reaching Europe to seek alternative ways in.
In August 2017 Italy and the EU put in place a deal in which they train the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats and return migrants to Libya, a large transit hub.
María Jesús Vega, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Spain, said: ‘ This situation requires urgent measures from central government, which needs to coordinate with the relevant ministries as well as the Guardia Civil border police, the maritime rescue service, the police and non-governmental organisations.
‘Government action is more urgently needed than ever and we need to see proper infrastructure for welcoming, registering and identifying these people.
‘All the organisations working on this situation are overwhelmed.’ The number of people crossing into Spain by sea from North Africa has increased significantly in recent years, while arrivals to Italy and Greece from Libya have dropped.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, 21,468 migrants and refugees arrived in Spain by sea in 2017, with 224 people dying on the journey.
This represents more than a threefold increase on 2016, when 6,046 people reached Spain and 128 people died trying. In the five months of 2018 so far, 4,409 people have reached Spain and 217 died trying. Meanwhile, arrivals for Italy alone have fallen by around 85 per cent this year.
Despite this, an Italian coastguard official confirmed that more than 1,800 migrants were rescued over the past three days trying to reach the country, probably thanks to an improvement in the weather.
A baby boy named Miracle was born aboard an Italian ship after his mother was rescued during a crossing.