Global Strategy Needed

When news that Mauritania and Spain have signed an accord to mutualize security forces and finances to fight against illegal immigration was made public, many jumped for joy saying at last, a long lasting solution is in pipe. Prior to the signing of the agreement on Tuesday in Nouakchott, Spain's coastguard have been rescuing boats carrying dozens of African migrants towards the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa on daily bases. Between January 1 and August 15 this year, 22,304 migrants reached the Islands, compared to 9,864 in the same period in 2023, an increase of 126 percent, according to interior ministry figures. Across Spain, there were 31,155 arrivals up to mid-August, a 66.2-percent increase on the 18,745 a year earlier.
Despite the perilous nature of the Atlantic route due to the strong currents, thousands of deaths and disappearances are registered every year. The deaths are either due to overloaded and unseaworthy boats or hunger and dehydration in the desert. Controlling the route to Europe via Mauritania does not put an end to the illegal immigration of people mostly youths from Africa. This week while Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould were putting pen on paper, several other migrants were attempting to make their way through Ceuta from Morocco but were sent back by the Spanish coastguards. The recent influx of migrants raises the que...