Entre Mares calls for safer migration routes at Puerto del Rosario gathering
The Fuerteventura association criticised EU border policy after deaths on the Atlantic route and called for legal, safe alternatives for migrants.
Entre Mares has called for safe and legal migration routes at a gathering in Puerto del Rosario, following deaths in the Canary Islands and Senegal. The association argues that European Union border policy is making journeys towards the islands more dangerous.
In a statement read by María Greco on 9 November in the plaza de la Iglesia, the sociocultural association criticised the EU’s approach of shifting border controls to North Africa. It argued that the strategy does not stop migration but instead forces people onto riskier routes and benefits trafficking networks.
The group expressed sorrow over the death of a person who recently arrived on a boat at La Restinga harbour in El Hierro, and over the recovery of more than 20 bodies on 7 November at Lompul beach in Senegal.
Entre Mares said that providing legal and safe alternatives was necessary to reduce the dangers faced by migrants and refugees and to counter the networks that organise clandestine journeys. It also criticised what it described as a lack of institutional sensitivity towards deaths on African and Canarian coasts.
The association called for people who die or disappear during crossings to be identified, so their families can learn what happened. It also urged the public to consider the circumstances that lead people to risk their lives at sea or crossing the desert.