Spain’s leader in Senegal concludes West Africa tour aimed at tackling irregular migration

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Thursday to conclude his trip through three West African nations aimed at tackling irregular migration to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The two leaders signed agreements to promote temporary work opportunities in Spain for Senegalese nationals and vocational training in the West African country. Irregular migration is a term for illegal or unauthorized immigration commonly used in the region and by some international organizations.

“Regulated migration benefits us all,” Sánchez said. "It vaccinates us against those who make a business out of irregularity, like the mafias, and against those who use it as an excuse to spread hatred and xenophobia in our societies.” He was referring to people-smuggling networks and far-right parties who have pushed for tougher immigration policies.

Sánchez began his tour in Mauritania on Tuesday where he announced that Spain will provide temporary work opportunities in Spain to Mauritanians and renew cooperation between the two nations’ security forces to combat people smuggling networks. The Spanish prime minister continued his tour going south to Gambia on Wednesday. He arrived in Senegal the same day before meeting with Senegal’s president on Thursday.

Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal have become the main departure points of migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located close to the African coast and used as a stepping stone for migrants and refugees trying to reach continental Europe.

More than 22,000 people have disembarked on its shores since January, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry, more than double the number of irregular arrivals for the same period last year.

Among those making it to the Canaries are thousands of Malian refugees fleeing violence and instability in the Sahelian nation as well as youth from Senegal, Mauritania and other West African countries who are seeking better job opportunities abroad. There are also increasingly more teenagers and children traveling alone to the Canary Islands, which has overwhelmed the local government responsible for their care.

Last month, a boat carrying 300 migrants, mostly from Gambia and Senegal, capsized off Mauritania. More than a dozen died and at least 150 others went missing.

President Faye said his government is “concerned” by the massive departures of migrants from Senegalese coasts leaving to Spain but that alongside repressive measures, it is necessary to combat the root causes of migration.

The agreements signed by Sánchez and Faye will promote “circular migration programs," which are temporary job opportunities in Spain for selected Senegalese workers, granting them permits of up to four years, and for a maximum of 9 months a year, the Spanish government announced in a press release on Thursday.

Some 17,200 foreign workers took part in Spain's circular migration program last year, but only 140 were Senegalese, according to Spanish government officials. The majority came from Morocco and other countries in Latin America.

Sánchez also announced the launch of the “Alliance Africa Advances,” a development initiative that includes vocational training to around 500 young people in Senegal and a project with Spanish operating company Hispasat to expand internet access throughout the West African country, during a speech at the Spanish cultural institute in Dakar on Wednesday.

Some migrant rights organizations have expressed doubts regarding the efficiency of vocational trainings like the one promoted by the Spanish government.

“The problem of migration is not a question of education or training, it's a problem of job opportunities,” Moustapha Diouf, who leads an organization promoting local job creation to dissuade young Senegalese people from leaving to Europe, told The Associated Press.

“Each year thousands of young Senegalese get diplomas, and yet a large number of them end up unemployed,” Diouf said.

Spain’s prime minister described himself as “a firm defender of regular migration” in his speech on Wednesday but also said people-smuggling networks continue to grow and are intertwined with terrorist networks and drug trafficking.

“To combat these threats, the return of those who have arrived in Spain illegally is essential, mainly because this return sends a clear, strong and discouraging message to the mafias and those who put themselves in their hands,” Sánchez said.

Last week, the Senegalese army said it had arrested 453 migrants and “members of smuggling networks” as part of a 12-day operation patrolling the coastline to prevent illegal migrants from leaving the Senegalese coast. More than half of the arrested were Senegalese nationals, the army said.

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Associated Press writers Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, and Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.