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ARCHIVED - Concern as 400 irregular migrants are flown from Canary Islands to Valencia and Alicante
Irregular migrants are being flown to mainland Spain after reaching the Canary Islands by patera
Following the uproar in Andalucía earlier this week when it emerged that over 200 unauthorized African immigrants had been flown from the Canary Islands to Granada without the local and regional authorities being adequately informed during the Bank Holiday weekend, it is now reported that approximately 400 more of those who had undertaken sea voyages from western Africa to the islands and entered as irregular migrants were transported to Valencia and Alicante during the long holiday weekend.
In addition, it is reported that the migrants were flown to the mainland without undergoing the required PCR coronavirus test, despite the ban inter-regional travel into the Comunidad Valenciana still being in force until at least 15th January.
The SUP, the union representing officers of the Policía Nacional, states that between Friday and Sunday eight flights travelled from Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife Norte in the Canaries to the airports of Valencia and Alicante, carrying 313 immigrants to the former and around 100 more to the latter on Ryanair and Vueling services. How this came about, though, is shrouded in intrigue as the official central government delegation in the region of Valencia states that these transfers of detained migrants were “not organized by the Executive”.
The SUP warns that another five such flights are planned for Friday 11th December, suggesting that an organized and structured relocation program is being implemented.
There is uncertainty about who is actually paying the commercial airlines to fly the passengers across to the mainland; the interior ministry continues to deny that it is organising the transfers, although confirms that it has approved them, but somebody is certainly co-ordinating the movement of irregular immigrants from the Canary Islands to the mainland.
Meanwhile, José Luis Escrivá, the Minister for Migration, has confirmed that offers have been received from various regional governments to take in some of the thousands of migrants who have succeeded in reaching the Canaries this year, including those of the Comunidad Valenciana, Navarra, Extremadura, Catalunya, the Basque Country, Castilla y León and Aragón. However, Sr Escrivá adds that the redistribution program has not yet begun, and that it is not planned for the Comunidad Valenciana’s offer to be among the first accepted.
Among those who arrived over the weekend in Valencia, it is reported that 16 were arrested in the regional capital after stealing food and that two of them tested positive for Covid-19. These individuals were immediately taken to hospital in Alicante while the other 14 were admitted to a field hospital in order to ensure that they remain in isolation, but of course the worry is that others carrying the coronavirus may have been allowed free in Spain without having been properly tested before flying to the mainland and there is no co-ordination once the migrants reach the mainland; rather than being transferred to Cruz Roja camps, they are simply disappearing off into the mainland.
Background
Irregular migration has been a problem in Spain for many years and the arrival of small pateras carrying migrants from Algeria, Morocco, and sub-saharan countries is nothing new. This year the number of irregular migrants is lower than normal, principally because Algeria and Morocco have closed their external border due to coronavirus. Normally the bulk of the migrants cross to Andalucia across the Gibraltar Straits but this year the migration pattern has shifted. Criminal gangs are now organising runs across to Murcia and Alicante, and the volume of boats travelling to the Canary Islands has also increased substantially.
By 30th November the number of unauthorized arrivals in the islands this year had reached 19,566, an increase of 881% when compared to the same period last year and considerably higher than the total for the Mediterranean coastlines of Spain, and at times thousands of migrants have been sleeping on blankets spread on the ground, sharing a few chemical toilets and living in conditions where it has been impossible to maintain the safety distances required by Covid protocols. Efforts have been made to negotiate immediate deportation to the countries of origin of those crowded into the camps – principally Morocco, Senegal and Mali – but while these attempts continue to be frustrated the national government has little option but to distribute them to other regions of Spain.
Having successfully reached Spanish soil, the national Government has 3 choices; return them to their country of origin (which is proving very difficult at the moment), release them into the country where they must make their own way without being able to work legally or take on full responsibility for feeding and housing the thousands of irregular migrants who cross the Mediterranean in boats every year in migrant camps.
The national Government has until 31st December to remove the migrants from tourist accommodation in which they are being housed in the Canary Islands, and appears to have adopted the policy of transferring the migrants to the mainland while work continues to prepare large-scale camps to house the thousands of people arriving in the Canaries from Africa.
The Government of the islands argues that it is unrealistic for them to assume the huge burden of tens of thousands of irregular economic migrants at their own cost and that they currently lack the resources to care for this many people. The islands government is also concerned about the negative impact on their tourism industry and is unhappy about the prospect of the islands being turned into huge migrant encampments.
In January Morocco and Algeria will once again re-open their borders, enabling the Spanish government to repatriate any migrants which they can prove have come from these two countries, but for the moment the migrants are being released, as under EU law, they may not be unlawfully detained for more than 72 hours against their will.
Most of the migrants have no intention of staying in Spain and want to travel to other countries, principally France, Belgium and the UK in search of work. Many of the migrants who end up living in ramshackle camps in Calais have entered Europe via Spain, and those boarding boats and crossing the Channel to illegally enter into the UK have mainly entered via the Mediterranean migrant routes.
Migration has been a major cause of friction within the EU for many years and in spite of efforts to form a cohesive policy, continues to be a point of discord amongst member states, none of whom want to take in the many thousands of migrants illegally entering the EU in this fashion every year.
In this case, the migrants are mainly from Algeria and Morocco and are NOT refugees; they are economic migrants seeking work in Europe who have no legal right to enter the EU as their home nation is not an EU member. They are entitled to enter Spain legally providing they have a valid work contract, or can prove they have an income (the same arrangement that will apply to British nationals after Brexit) but the migrants who pay criminal gangs to transport them to Spain have neither, so the Spanish Government refuses to give them a legal status, as to do so, would encourage tens of thousands more to make the journey.
There is no choice left other than to work illegally in unskilled jobs, and this in turn, subjects the migrants to a life of abuse and exploitation, always being paid less than the going rate and hiding from the authorities.
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