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News, June 2006Sub-Saharan invasion alarms Canaries19th May. Yesterday a new record was set when 647 paperless illegal immigrants were washed ashore aboard cayuco large open fishing boats, having crossed the ocean several days from Marutiania or even Senegal. Last weekend over 1100 arrived in 4 days. Good weather and calm seas alerted the government to the possibility of such arrivals, as sub-Saharans in search of a better life attempt to reach Europe. Already more African illegals have arrived this year than during the whole of last year, a growth which seems to be repeated annually. In the past, the illegals attempted to cross Morocco and take smaller pateras across the straits of Gibrlatar, but effective surveillance and Moroccan cooperation finally put an end to this route after the Africans attempted to storm on several occasions the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and particularly Melilla. The government is continually putting new and stronger meanures into effect, but there seems no hope of finally putting an end to the migratory flow from West Africa. Likewise, the government is attempting to control arrivals by air from Latin America and overland from Romania, but nothing seems to be sufficient to stop people trying to get into Spain.. and consequently the rest of the EU's Schengen agreement countries. Most illegals are now sent back as soon as possible, but in some cases they get through the net and frequently fall enslaved into the hands of mafias. |