DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Thursday to conclude his tour of three West African countries aimed at tackling illegal migration to Spain’s Canary Islands.
The two leaders signed agreements to promote temporary work opportunities in Spain for Senegalese nationals and vocational training in the West African country. Irregular migration is a term for illegal or unauthorized immigration that is widely used in the region and by some international organizations.
“Regulated migration is good for all of us,” Sánchez said. “It vaccinates us against those who make a business of irregularity, like the mafia, and against those who use it as an excuse to spread hatred and xenophobia in our societies.” He was referring to human trafficking networks and far-right parties that have pushed for stricter immigration rules.
Sánchez began his tour in Mauritania on Tuesday, where he announced that Spain would offer temporary work opportunities in Spain to Mauritanians and renew cooperation between the two countries’ security forces to combat human trafficking networks. The Spanish prime minister continued his tour south to Gambia on Wednesday. He arrived in Senegal the same day, before meeting Senegal’s president on Thursday.
Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal have become the main departure points for migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands. This Spanish archipelago is located just off the African coast and is used as a boarding point for migrants and refugees trying to reach continental Europe.
According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, more than 22,000 people have arrived since January, more than double the number of irregular arrivals in the same period last year.
Among those who have made it to the Canary Islands are thousands of Malian refugees fleeing violence and instability in the Sahel, as well as young people from Senegal, Mauritania and other West African countries seeking better jobs abroad. Increasing numbers of teenagers and children are also travelling to the Canary Islands alone, overwhelming the local authorities responsible for their care.
Last month, a boat carrying 300 migrants, mostly from Gambia and Senegal, capsized off the coast of Mauritania, killing more than a dozen people and leaving at least 150 missing.
President Faye said his government is “concerned” about the massive flows of migrants from the Senegalese coast to Spain, but that in addition to repressive measures, it is also necessary to address the root causes of migration.
The agreements signed by Sánchez and Faye will promote “circular migration programs,” temporary jobs in Spain for selected Senegalese workers, who will be granted a permit for up to four years and up to nine months per year, the Spanish government announced in a press release on Thursday.
About 17,200 foreign workers participated in Spain’s circular migration program last year, but only 140 were Senegalese, Spanish officials said. The majority came from Morocco and other Latin American countries.
Sánchez also announced the launch of the “Alliance Africa Advances,” a development initiative that includes vocational training for about 500 young people in Senegal and a project with Spanish company Hispasat to expand internet access throughout the West African country, during a speech at the Spanish Cultural Institute in Dakar on Wednesday.
Some migrant rights organisations have raised doubts about the effectiveness of vocational training programmes such as those run by the Spanish government.
“The migration problem is not about education or training, but about employment,” Moustapha Diouf, who heads an organization that promotes local employment to discourage young Senegalese from leaving for Europe, told The Associated Press.
“Every year, thousands of young Senegalese graduate, but a large number of them become unemployed,” Diouf said.
The Spanish prime minister described himself in his speech on Wednesday as “a staunch defender of regular migration”, but also said that people-smuggling networks continue to grow and are intertwined with terrorist networks and drug trafficking.
“To combat these threats, the return of those who have arrived illegally in Spain is essential, especially because this return sends a clear, strong and discouraging signal to the mafia and those who place themselves in their hands,” said Sánchez.
Last week, the Senegalese military said it had arrested 453 migrants and “members of smuggling networks” as part of a 12-day operation to patrol the coastline to prevent illegal migrants from leaving Senegal’s coast. More than half of those arrested were Senegalese nationals, the military said.
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Associated Press journalists Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, and Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
