Spain rescued a record number of migrants at sea in the first two weeks of this month – more than 3,400, most of them in the Canary Islands, Spain’s interior ministry said on Monday.
A total of 24,463 migrants have arrived in Spain by small boats since the start of 2023, up 25% from the same period in 2022, according to the latest data from the Spanish ministry.
According to the agency, from January 1 to January 14 this month, 25,292 people entered Spain, most of them – 24,463 – by sea, consolidating the trend of increasing arrivals of small ships throughout the summer.
Of these 24,463 arrivals, 14,359 went to the Canary Islands, up 24.6% from last year’s 11,522 arrivals.
Looking back at the previous fortnightly reports, in the first two weeks of September alone, 2,920 migrants arrived in the Canary archipelago, almost equal to the number recorded for the whole of August, when 2,931 people were rescued from small boats, and slightly lower than in July: on the Canary coast 1295 people arrived on the islands.
Migration flow experts and non-governmental organizations consulted by Spanish news agency EFE agree that in addition to September being a good time for sailing, the political and social crisis in Senegal has led to an increase in the number of canoes. arriving in the Canary Islands from this West African country.
In addition to the 14,359 migrants reaching the Canary Islands this year, a further 9,927 were rescued while trying to reach the Balearic Islands and mainland Spain, also representing an increase of 26.2% compared to the same period in 2022.
These arrivals compared with previous reports that 516 people arrived on the Mediterranean coast in the first two weeks of September. There were 2,097 for the whole of August, and 2,447 in July, during the summer when the number of rescue operations in the Mediterranean increased.
In contrast to this increase, the number of illegal entries through the border posts of Ceuta and Melilla continues to decline, especially in the case of the latter autonomous city, where 112 people arrived by September 14. During the same period in 2022, there were 1,146.
In eight months of the year, 717 people entered Ceuta, which is 2.8% less than last year.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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