Illegal migrants number reaching Spain dropped in 2004
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 1/8/2005

The number of illegal immigrants reaching Spain on make-shift boats dropped 18 per cent in 2004, compared to 2003, figures released Friday by the Spanish Immigration State secretariat show.

Authorities arrested 15,675 people last year to 19,176 a year earlier on their arrival at the Spanish territory across the Gibraltar strait and at the Canary islands.

The number of intercepted "pateras" (dinghies) stood at 740 in 2004 to 942 in 2003, which is a 21 percent drop, while 283 smuggling boat owners were arrested, i.e a 26 percent rise.

A total of 14 Boats ferrying illegal immigrants sank in 2004, which is more than in 2003, but the number of corpses (80) retrieved dropped 20 percent and that of people rescued (339) also decreased by 17 pc, while the number of disappeared (60) is half that of 2003.

The figures released show that crossing to the Canary islands is more and more chosen than that of the Gibraltar strait. 8,426 people were arrested at their arrival on the islands, which is a drop of 10 pc, however. 7,425 illegal immigrants were arrested after they crossed the strait, which is a drop of 26 pc.

For the first time, the Balearic islands are reported on illegal migration statistics in Spain following the arrest of four people on board of a boat. The drop in illegal migration arrivals in Spain shows the efficiency of Spanish-Moroccan cooperation and that of the measures made by Morocco in the fight of the phenomenon. Spain's secretary of state for immigration, Consuelo Rumi, on December 24, said that cooperation with Morocco "has improved and information exchange has increased," following the death a day before of 13 sub-Saharan African nationals in a drifting boat off the Canary Islands.

Thousands of illegal immigrants endanger their lives every year to cross over to Spain through northern Morocco, or to the Canary Islands through the south of the country. Many die, or are caught by coastguards and border police, as they try to cross in small boats.

The Moroccan Directorate of Migration and Borders Surveillance, set up to crack down on human trafficking networks, recalled that Moroccan authorities work in close cooperation with all partners, notably Spain, and fully assume their responsibility in fighting illegal immigration.

The body recalled that actions made to this aim in 2004 led to foiling over 26,000 attempts of illegal immigration, including 4,989 in southern Morocco. Some 423 human smuggling networks were dismantled in the same year.

These measures led to a 26 percent drop of attempts to clandestinely reach the Iberian Peninsula in general, and frustrated 44 percent illegal migration trips to the Canary Islands.

Previous Stories:
  Spanish FM : difficult to conciliate stances of parties to Sahara issue   (1/6/2005)
  Moroccan FM: Spain observes neutrality in Sahara issue   (12/30/2004)
  Morocco, Spain organize joint patrols to crack down on illegal immigrants   (12/24/2004)

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