Record Numbers of African Migrants Arrive in the Canary Islands

A total of 1,457 migrants had reached the Spanish islands off the western African coast between Friday night and Sunday morning, France 24 reported on Monday, October 23. An emergency services spokesman said all of the arrivals hailed from sub-Saharan Africa. Saturday saw 321 people reach the island of El Hierro aboard one vessel, a rescue services spokesperson told AFP, surpassing the previous record for a single boat of 280 on October 3. Spanish broadcaster TVE showed images of a multicoloured vessel crammed with smiling and waving passengers reaching port. Latest data from Spain’s interior ministry show 23,537 migrants reached the Canaries between January 1 and October 15. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska last week said on a visit to the archipelago the spike in numbers resulted from political “destabilisation in the Sahel“. However, many barely seaworthy vessels have not made it to shore as thousands of migrants risk their lives on the long and dangerous crossing from Morocco or Western Sahara -- 100 kilometres away.