Now Tenerife is also being overrun by migrants

The archipelago in the Atlantic has been overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving for several weeks. The situation is “difficult,” reports the Red Cross. This also has to do with the conditions in nearby Africa.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - At least 8,561 migrants have reached the Spanish Canary Islands, west of Africa , in the past 14 days. This corresponds to more than a third of this year's total number of arrivals on the island chain, as Der Spiegel reports.

Between January 1st and October 15th, a total of 23,537 asylum seekers arrived in Tenerife. That is 80 percent more than in the same period last year. The island of El Hierro is said to be particularly affected. While only 11,000 people live there, 1,200 migrants arrived within 48 hours at the beginning of October alone.

Push factor Senegal
A Red Cross spokesman told a local radio station at the time that the situation on the island was “difficult.” Due to space constraints, the Canary Islands emergency coordination center is trying to redirect the migrant boats to nearby islands, Euronews reported.

The EU border protection agency Frontex cited the conditions in Senegal as the reason for the increasing numbers. These are a “push factor”. The country's most important economic sector, fishing, is in crisis. Accordingly, there are many fishermen on the arriving boats.

Opposition party forcibly dissolved
In addition, a political crisis is shaking the country. In June, a court sentenced opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison. Sonko was charged with rape and convicted of “seducing a juvenile,” reports the Voice of America news channel.

This means that the opposition leader will not be able to take part in the upcoming election in 2024. Sonko insists the charges are politically motivated. His party, the African Patriots for Work, Ethics and Fraternity, was forcibly dissolved. Most recently, they won around 33 percent in the 2022 National Council election.

Source: Junge Freiheit