Canary Islands Fear Disaster As Number Of Migrants Soars

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 9-4-2006 | Dale Fuchs

[blam]

Canary Islands fear disaster as number of migrants soars

* 6,000 came in August, exceeding whole of 2005
* Spain wants EU summit to cut off sea route to Europe

Dale Fuchs in Madrid
Monday September 4, 2006
The Guardian (UK)

A record number of African migrants, almost 1,200 in 36 hours, reached the shores of the Spanish Canary Islands at the weekend, crammed into eight rickety boats that set sail from Mauritania, officials said. Police have intercepted about 20,000 migrants this year. Rescue workers say 550 have drowned en route. In all, 674 arrived on Saturday and 522 yesterday. "This is a humanitarian catastrophe of the first degree," Paulino Rivero, a Canary Island official, told the newspaper El País.

The number of migrants landing on the Canary Islands, off the west African coast, has risen steadily this summer. Close to 6,000 arrived in August, compared with 4,751 for the whole of 2005. Television news footage of Red Cross workers covering dehydrated young men with blankets, or carrying away corpses, is broadcast nearly every evening. As refugee camps overflow and tourists help bedraggled migrants on to the beach, Madrid is pushing the EU to help cut off this new sea route to Europe.

Spain has pushed immigration to the top of the agenda at the EU summit next month. Ministers from France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia have also been invited to a crisis meeting this month, said a spokeswoman for the Spanish prime minister's office, where the coordination of sea patrols, rescue operations and repatriation will be discussed.

[blam]

3rd world migrants are on the march everywhere.

[Loyalist]

Camp of the Saints?

[fogofbobegabay]

Typical socialist fools. Last year the Spanish amnestied 2/4 of a million illegal migrants and now, surprise, there are more and they want the rest of Europe to bail them out. I say, let them deal with the logical consequences of their actions.

[VOA]

Spain has pushed immigration to the top of the agenda at the EU summit next month.

Well, cut-and-run from Iraq and The Coalition...then make nice with
Islam after the Madrid train bombing...then have your socialist
PM wear the Palestinian kerchief...

Might as well say to the world...Come on in, we're too wimpy to
stand for anything, not even our own selves and country!

[WVNan]

Exactly. I just downloaded the article to slip into my copy of Camp of the Saints. Talk about prophecy...

[Tzimisce]

Coming soon to a nation near you...

[tcrlaf]

Spain USED to have something called "A NAVY" that would be great at handling these matters..

What happened to that??

[denydenydeny]

A few years ago they were talking about building the world's largest bridge over the Gibraltar Straits between Spain and Morocco.

Don't think those plans are going anywhere soon.