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After first visiting Gambia, Sánchez visited Senegal as part of a three-day tour of West Africa to tackle irregular migration. It is the first time a Spanish prime minister has visited a small country of 2.7 million inhabitants
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain would launch a new strategy for its relations with Africa in the coming weeks, with West Africa and the Sahel being considered priority regions. He did not provide further details.
After first visiting Gambia, Sánchez visited Senegal as part of a three-day tour of West Africa to tackle irregular migration. It is the first time a Spanish prime minister has visited a small country of 2.7 million inhabitants.
The Spanish Prime Minister began his tour in Mauritania on Tuesday where he announced that Spain would expand its circular migration program to Mauritanians and renew cooperation between the two nations’ security forces to combat people smuggling and trafficking networks.
He continued his tour going south to Gambia and met with Senegal’s president and prime minister on Thursday. The three coastal nations have become the main departure points for migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located close to the African coast and used as a stepping stone for migrants and refugees trying to reach continental Europe.
More than 22,000 people have disembarked on its shores since January, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, more than double the number of irregular arrivals for the same period last year.
Sanchez said during a conference in Senegal that he was a “strong advocate” for migration but also stressed that “security is a top priority.”
Among those making it to the Canaries are thousands of Malian refugees fleeing violence and instability in the Sahelian nation as well as youth from Senegal, Mauritania, and other West African countries who are seeking better job opportunities abroad. There are also increasingly more teenagers and children traveling alone to the Canary Islands, which has overwhelmed the local government responsible for their care.
In a related news, during his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis was highly critical of those, who, he said, ‘work systematically and by all means to repel migrants’. Referring to the Mediterranean Sea as a ‘graveyard’, the Pontiff said that many of those who lost their lives trying to cross could have been saved.
Throughout his 11-year papacy, the Pope has been vocal about the treatment of migrants and has been to the Italian island of Lampedusa where scores have arrived after making the perilous journey from North Africa.
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His comments come as Italy’s government intensifies its crackdown on boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. This week, it detained Médecins Sans Frontières’ ship, Geo Barents; the humanitarian organization denounced the move as an ‘inhumane decision’.
