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IMMIGRATION

Dozens of people drown as boat capsizes trying to reach Spain

At least 44 migrants, including women and infants, drowned this week off Morocco's coast as they tried to reach Spain, migrant aid agency Caminando Fronteras has said.

Published: 13 March 2022 15:49 CET
Safety jackets on a boat
Safety jackets on a boat. Photo: Ricardo GARCIA VILANOVA / AFP

“Tragedy. At least 44 victims drowned off the coast of Tarfaya (southern Morocco),” the aid agency’s Helena Maleno tweeted on Saturday.

They were among 61 migrants who boarded a boat heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, around 100 kilometres (62 miles) away from Tarfaya.

A total of 16 women and seven babies were among those on board, Maleno said.

“The bodies of three women and two babies are now at the morgue of Laayoune,” the main city in the disputed Western Sahara territory. The rest are still missing.

The North African kingdom of Morocco is a key transit point on routes taken by migrants hoping for better lives on European shores.

According to the Spanish interior ministry, more than 40,000 migrants arrived in the country by sea in 2021.

The European Union said this week it wanted to bolster cooperation with Morocco to stem the flow of illegal migrants entering the bloc, amid a sharp jump in attempts to reach the Canary Islands — a gateway to the EU.

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IMMIGRATION

Spanish minister urges EU to ‘deepen’ ties to tackle migration roots

Ministers from five Mediterranean nations on Saturday urged the EU to "deepen" bilateral agreements with migrant countries of origin and increase funding to tackle the root causes of migration.

Published: 21 April 2024 16:36 CEST
Spanish minister urges EU to 'deepen' ties to tackle migration roots

Meeting on Gran Canaria Island, interior and migration ministers from the so-called MED5 nations — Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain — discussed the new migration and asylum pact adopted by the EU parliament on April 11.

Years in the making, the deal involves a sweeping reform of the bloc’s asylum policies that will both harden border procedures while forcing all 27 nations to share responsibility for migrant arrivals.

The reform was spurred by the massive influx of migrants in 2015, with its provisions taking effect in 2026.

Hailing the pact as “historic”, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said there was “still a long way to go” and that the solution lay in “prevention” and addressing the root causes of migration “at its source”.

“The key to migration management lies in bilateral cooperation,” he told a news conference, urging the European Commission “to deepen and broaden partnerships and agreements with third countries” to stem flows of irregular migrants.

“But we believe there is room for improvement and the commitment should also focus on increasing European funds and flexible financing tools destined for such cooperation,” he said.

Under current EU rules, the arrival country bears responsibility for hosting and vetting asylum-seekers and returning those deemed inadmissible, which has put southern frontline states under huge pressure, fuelling far-right opposition.

The new EU pact, which includes building border centres to hold asylum-seekers and sending some to outside “safe” countries, has been denounced by migrant charities and NGOs, with Amnesty International warning it would “lead to greater human suffering”.

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