Kurtz
12-30-2006, 01:09 AM
Almost one in six of the illegal migrants who try to travel from North Africa to the Canary Islands dies in the attempt, a Spanish officials have said.
This year, about 6,000 died en route to the Spanish archipelago while 31,404 reached the islands successfully, Froilan Rodriguez, Canary Islands vice-director of immigration, said on Wednesday.
About 600 bodies have been picked up on the shores of the African mainland and the Canaries this year but the total of migrants killed is about 10 times that, Rodriguez said.
"We're talking about a dramatic number of dead," Rodriguez told Cadena Ser, a Spanish radio station.
The migrants risk sea voyages of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal in the hope of finding jobs or collecting welfare payments in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.
Rising numbers
Migrant numbers have risen despite European Union sea and air patrols off the coast of West Africa.
In 2006 six times more illegal immigrants arrived in the Canary Islands than in 2005, Rodriguez said.
Tighter security on Morocco's borders has encouraged migrants to risk a sea journey that is quicker, cheaper and less arduous than overland routes to north Africa used previously.
People smugglers are also using bigger boats carrying up to 100 people and almost as many Africans landed on the Canaries this year as in the previous four years combined, Jose Segura, a government representative on the islands, told Cadena Ser.
In 2005, 4,751 migrants reached the Canaries. About 20,000 migrants have been transferred to mainland Spain this year from the islands, Segura said.
Spain's opposition Popular Party say that illegal immigrants are to blame for the recent rise in violent crime.
Polls show that Spaniards regard immigration as one of their biggest worries.http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/41062553-3A01-41E7-AC17-01A9EDFB8D44.htm
_______________________________
Sound familiar?
This year, about 6,000 died en route to the Spanish archipelago while 31,404 reached the islands successfully, Froilan Rodriguez, Canary Islands vice-director of immigration, said on Wednesday.
About 600 bodies have been picked up on the shores of the African mainland and the Canaries this year but the total of migrants killed is about 10 times that, Rodriguez said.
"We're talking about a dramatic number of dead," Rodriguez told Cadena Ser, a Spanish radio station.
The migrants risk sea voyages of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles) from Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal in the hope of finding jobs or collecting welfare payments in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.
Rising numbers
Migrant numbers have risen despite European Union sea and air patrols off the coast of West Africa.
In 2006 six times more illegal immigrants arrived in the Canary Islands than in 2005, Rodriguez said.
Tighter security on Morocco's borders has encouraged migrants to risk a sea journey that is quicker, cheaper and less arduous than overland routes to north Africa used previously.
People smugglers are also using bigger boats carrying up to 100 people and almost as many Africans landed on the Canaries this year as in the previous four years combined, Jose Segura, a government representative on the islands, told Cadena Ser.
In 2005, 4,751 migrants reached the Canaries. About 20,000 migrants have been transferred to mainland Spain this year from the islands, Segura said.
Spain's opposition Popular Party say that illegal immigrants are to blame for the recent rise in violent crime.
Polls show that Spaniards regard immigration as one of their biggest worries.http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/41062553-3A01-41E7-AC17-01A9EDFB8D44.htm
_______________________________
Sound familiar?