Inside Frontex They don’t understand the government shutdown Pedro Sanchez not to be helped in the Canary Islands. That same week, the director of the European Border Agency stressed Moncloa for not having asked for additional resources, but as OKDIARIO learned, the proposal was on the table at the beginning of the summer: more than fifty additional agents for Canary Islandsexperts in detecting fraud in asylum applications and in streamline bureaucracy to undertake returns.
With the Canary Islands experiencing record numbers of illegal immigration, with islands like The iron without reinforcements and in borderline situationand while the regional government and the opposition accuse the government of inaction and inaction, Moncloa has not given the green light for Frontex strengthen the archipelago in human resources.
As OKDIARIO learned from police sources assigned to the Canary Islands to combat illegal immigration, Frontex put on the table last June, during a meeting of commissioners and senior officials held in the Canary Islands, a plan to speed up the return of CIEs to their countries of origin.
The profile of the agents that Frontex had, between fifty and a hundred, is specialized in the bureaucratic management of asylum procedures and in the detection of fraud in these procedures. One of the problems that the security forces are currently accusing the most, saturated by the massive arrivals of people without papers. This would mean, they explain, speeding up returns and freeing the detention centers, currently saturated, more quickly and more efficiently.
Instead of accepting this aid plan, Moncloa and the Interior rejected this option. The government’s solution was instead to maintain daily flights loaded with immigrants – up to 340 – to Madrid and other points on the peninsula.
It is worth remembering that Frontex has a staff of 10,000 agents, which, according to EU plans, could be increased to 30,000 in the coming years, although there are only 170 in Spain. In recent years, there were up to 320. In the Canary Islands, there are currently 60, a very low figure if we take into account that Frontex has indicated that this African maritime route is, by far, the one that has increased the most: 154%.
Director’s Opinion
Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens expressed concern on Tuesday about the growing migratory pressure in the Canary Islands, stressing that there is a “significant increase” in arrivals. Leijtens called on the central government to provide a decisive political response, as well as financial resources and legal frameworks to enable the agency to act.
“I recently visited Madrid and the Canary Islands, where I discussed the situation with both administrations. What we are seeing is alarming. While in some regions of Europe a decrease is observed, in the Canary Islands, on the other hand, the increase is notable and seems to be a structural phenomenon,” Leijtens said in his speech to the European Parliament. Likewise, he explained that Frontex cannot collaborate with the central government in its intention to manage migration by cooperating with countries of origin and transit, because the agency does not have the necessary legal authorisation or a formal request from Spain.
“From what I heard in Madrid and the Canary Islands, the priority now is to work with the countries of transit and origin. However, we are limited by the lack of an adequate legal framework, that is, agreements with countries such as Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia,” added Leijtens, referring to the countries visited last week by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez.
Unprecedented crisis
The government of Pedro Sanchez It goes from record to record in terms of illegal immigration. This summer, Spain has registered the highest number of boat arrivals and illegal immigration ever known. Especially on the coasts of the Canary Islands. In total, since the start of the summer season by the Ministry of the Interior last June until August 31 Spain received a total of 12,627 illegal immigrants arrived by sea. In 2023, with figures never seen before, they will reach 8,833The number of boats has also skyrocketed, exceeding a thousand for the first time at this time of year.
There is no precedent for such a massive arrival in Spain as that of 2024, despite warnings from the Security forces and bodies on what will happen this fall. Without the need to end the year, this year’s figures are already basically similar to those recorded last year in mid-October, in the midst of the explosion of the boat phenomenon and in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in the Canary Islands. forecasts for the coming months are very negative among experts.
The data already consolidated as of August 31 and which the Ministry of the Interior has reflected in its official bimonthly report on irregular immigration show that Spain has received so far this year a total of 35,456 illegal immigrants. 62.8% more than the previous year, when alarming figures were already being reported.
Warning of what is coming
Furthermore, in a recent report by Frontex Sánchez is also aware that the mafias dedicated to this immigration business are reducing their rates, charging much lower prices compared to other routes to make the jump to Europe. It is already the cheapest way to enter the EU. A call effect suggesting that illegal immigration to the Canary Islands will increase significantly in the coming months, surpassing the record figures of 2023 and becoming a serious problem for Sánchez.
This is what the European Border Security Agency warns in its report. Annual risk analysis 2024-25. THE “growing movements” African immigrants heading to Europe,especially from the Sahel”could “further increase traffic on the West African route,” Frontex estimates.
“It is very likely that this route will continue to be one of the main gateways to the European Union,” the border security agency explains in its analysis document. And among the causes that lead to this, they indicate, are the low rates applied by the human trafficking mafias, increasingly numerous, in this area of the African coast. More and more criminal groups are dedicating themselves to these transits.more dangerous than the Mediterranean crossings, but with much less logistics. The increase in the supply of cayuco transfers has caused a drop in the prices of each seat, which can now be found for just 1,000 euros.
