The University of La Laguna (ULL) presented this Thursday the installation of a boat in the campus gardens to promote reflection, debate and the memory of all those people who have risked or lost their lives to reach the coasts of the Islands The Canary Islands, one of the deadliest migratory crossings in the world, on the occasion of Africa Day.
The intervention is part of a more extensive program that will include roundtable discussions and presentations throughout the day, in which participants from NGOs to students and professionals from different fields, but also migrants from the reception centers located in the island of Tenerife.
The so-called “Canary Islands route” has claimed the lives of thousands of people from the African continent since 2020, the year in which arrivals to the archipelago skyrocketed, with no more evidence or figures of what happened than those reported by its survivors. , in the best case.
Despite the fact that in the last year there has been a sharp drop in the number of arrivals by sea, with a total of 2,178 thousand people until March 2023 compared to 5,552 in the same period in the previous year according to data from the Ministry of the Interior , the drama of what happened is already part of the history of the Canary Islands.
We commemorate Africa Day with a day of talks, discussion tables, music and traditional food. 🗣️🎶 🍲
The “Migrants from Africa” space has been inaugurated with the installation of a boat on the Guajara Campus as a sign of meeting. #InLaLagunaWeTake Care #Diversity pic.twitter.com/1YL7rKbNxi
— La Laguna Wellness (@lalagunatecuida) May 25, 2023
Víctor Martín, director of the Center for African Studies of the ULL, explained to EFE that the boat installed on the campus represents “a space for reflection, union and meeting between the African and Canary Islands” that serves to “vehicle towards solutions and proposals in which the university can participate with a large number of specialists”.
“This installation responds to a concern that Canarian society has about the so-called migration problem and the proximity of the islands to the African continent, which has become a gateway. And we want to record that migrations are not a problem, the problem is unfortunate efforts”, added Martín.
Along with him and the rector of the university, Francisco García, were other authorities and workers, as well as a large group of migrants of various nationalities who took pictures with the boat and told their companions and companions personal stories about their experience.
Some memories that several of those present wanted to share later in one of the university classrooms, where the attendees were divided into groups according to their language so that a group of improvised translators would detail the details of each story.
On May 25, Africa Day is celebrated, a commemoration, explained Víctor Martín, who celebrates the founding of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) currently known as the African Union, which today turns 60 and marks “the day of liberation from imperialism and colonialism”, as well as “the emergence as independent states of the majority of the countries of the continent”.
