Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service intercepted 1,488 individuals aboard 14 dinghies in a single day, setting a 32-year record with most reaching the island of El Hierro. Migrants are processed at the port before being transferred across reception centers and eventually relocated to other islands or the Spanish mainland. Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres is visiting El Hierro as the Atlantic route continues to claim hundreds of lives.
Key points
The European Union's updated migration and asylum regulations have failed to stop crossin…: The European Union's updated migration and asylum regulations have failed to stop crossings into Spanish territory.
Migrants endure week-long ocean voyages from West Africa packed into small wooden fishing…: Migrants endure week-long ocean voyages from West Africa packed into small wooden fishing boats called pirogues.
High arrival numbers are straining local infrastructure, prompting emergency declarations…: High arrival numbers are straining local infrastructure, prompting emergency declarations and high-level government visits to El Hierro.
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New European Union migration and asylum laws have largely failed to stem the flow of migrants to Spain and its territories.
Spain has declared a migration emergency in the Canary Islands after the arrival of more than 9,000 people in its Atlantic Ocean territory since the start of November.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said it had rescued 1,488 migrants aboard 14 dinghies, also known as pirogues, most of whom arrived on El Hierro in the Canary Islands from West Africa on Saturday.
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That’s broken the record of 1,461 people rescued six years earlier in November 2020.
Spain’s Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres is visiting El Hierro on Sunday to discuss the surge in migrant arrivals.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from El Hierro, said the arrival this year has set a record in the 32…
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