AYS Daily Digest 20/10/2020: Updates from Canary Islands: Children are being separated from their Mothers
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Digest, Europe, Greece, Refugees, Canary Islands

AYS Daily Digest 20/10/2020: Updates from Canary Islands: Children are being separated from their Mothers

Spike in arrivals on the Canary Islands, children being separated from their mothers // New Pushback on the Aegean // Winter approaching while thousands are sleeping in the forests of Bosnia // German Government does not allow cities to take in refugees // No new regulation for family reunification after UK leaves EU Are You Syrious? Follow Oct 21, 2020 · 7 min read

Pushback in the Aegean Sea on life rafts, to full to carry everybody. Copyright: Aegean Boat Report

FEATURE: The Canary Islands

In today’s feature we take a closer look at the Canary Islands. Over the last weeks, the number of arrivals on the islands has increased dramatically. On Tuesday 20 October, 375 people were rescued and brought ashore. This number reflects an overall trend of the last weeks, where a daily number of arrivals of about 300 people has been the norm. Between October 8 and 10, a total of 1,015 people landed within 48 hours. This is the highest number of arrivals since 2006 (see here).



Yesterday, one man did not survive the crossing. His body was brought ashore for autopsy. At the beginning of August three young men died of thirst and dehydration. The same cause of death is suspected for the newest victim. According to IOM’s missing migrants’ project, at least 271 people have died so far in 2020 when trying to reach the Canary Islands. It is however very likely that the number of deaths is much higher. The journey via the Atlantic Ocean is probably the most dangerous. People start from Morocco, Western Sahara or even Mauritania and Senegal. From Morocco, the journey is about 100 km, from Mauritania about 10.000 km.

While the number of arrivals from Morocco to Spain via the Mediterranean fell sharply this year, it remains obvious that border control does not stop migration, but only leads to more dangerous routes being used. Morocco received extensive EU funding for controlling its Mediterranean coast and stopping people from embarking in 2019. The shift to the much longer and more dangerous Atlantic route is the direct result of this use of European funding.

For the people who are rescued or make it to the islands themselves, the situation is not easy. We see a situation similar to the one on the Greek islands evolving: the Spanish government is reluctant or unable to provide fast and humane accommodation for the people. Hundreds are sleeping on the ground on the dock of Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, as the local authorities are struggling to provide enough housing. The Spanish human rights activist Txema Santana tweeted yesterday that 1.088 people are currently on the dock, most of them will have to sleep there. To put this in perspective, the Canary Islands generally host a total of 13 Million tourists each season.

The photojournalist Javier Bauluz is present in Gran Canaria but was prevented from accessing the dock by the national police.

Last weekend the Spanish migration minister José Luis Escrivá visited the Canary Islands. He plans to renovate and reopen a former camp for refugees on Fuerteventura.

For mothers and children, the situation is even worse. Under the argument of wanting to prevent child trafficking, mothers and children are being separated until a DNA test proves the motherhood. According to a newspaper article, since August this happened to 6 children who arrived on Gran Canaria and to six who arrived on Fuerteventura. In some cases, the children were separated from their parents for more than two months. The vice-minister of Social Rights of the Canary Islands Government told the newspaper that she repeatedly asked the Prosecutors Office of the Province of Las Palmas, who is ordering these measures, to stop the practice.

The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned Spain for the practices of separating children from their parents in Melilla.

For the full article in Spanish, see:

Here you can find a very informative piece on the practice of externalization of Spanish borders, collected by a Spanish NGO (in Spanish).