SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, recognized this Tuesday his “powerlessness” after confirming, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, the death of more than 6,000 migrants last year en route to the Canary Islands.
In statements to journalists, he stressed the “sadness” and “sorrow” that these figures produce because “it was being warned” that there would be more and more deaths if Frontex was not deployed in the issuing countries.
He has pointed out that in recent days a migrant who arrived in the waters of the islands aboard a tire was even rescued – his traveling companion died – and has stressed that the ‘Atlantic route’ is the most “deadly” of Europe so he understands that the EU “has something to do”.
Thus, once the policy was defined through the Migration and Asylum Pact, he commented that economic and social development work must be done in West Africa “because if not, people are going to live from hunger, death and of misery”.
“Look how desperate they have to be to climb into the unknown at night. It breaks my heart, boys and girls who really do that,” he commented, highlighting that last year some 40,000 arrived on the archipelago “but unfortunately we have to regret that every hour and a half an immigrant is dying trying to achieve his dream.
831527.1.260.149.20240109170453
