BORDER surveillance will be upped after the number of migrants trafficked through Spain more than doubled last year. Almost 23,000 people arrived in Spain from Morocco or Algeria last year – …
Almost 23,000 people arrived in Spain from Morocco or Algeria last year – twice the rate in 2016 – with authorities now fearing even more people could be smuggled through the route this year usually used by drug smugglers.
The Times reported that human cargo has replaced hashish on swift motor launches destined for southern Spanish beaches.
And Fabrice Leggeri, the head of Frontex revealed that more crossing attempts were expected this year.
In response, a permanent border operation is expected to be rolled out in the western Mediterranean – while air surveillance will also be increasingly used.
The Spanish Commission for Refugees also claimed more than 200 people died while trying to make the crossing in 2017 alone.
n a statement, CEAR said: “At the end of the year, the tally is devastating.”
According to the organisation, the arrivals to Spanish costs last year accounted for almost 13 per cent of arrivals to Europe – compared to 2 per cent the previous year.
Estrella Galán, general secretary of CEAR, said: “This situation calls for a new migration policy that does not turn our borders into places where the rights of refugees and migrants disappear.”
But while Spain saw an increase in migrant arrivals, numbers entering Italy and Greece dropped.
The increase in arrivals from Algeria is due to “the economic situation in the country, which has deteriorated in the last three years” following a drop in the price of oil, a key export, Carlos Arce of the Human Rights Association of Andalusia (APDHA) told AFP.
José Antonio Nieto, secretary of state for security, said that the country was working with both Morocco and Algeria to combat the problem.
He said: “Chasing mafias and human trafficking networks is the top priority.
