While the struggle continues for a European solution for the migrants on Lesbos, the next refugee drama is unfolding at another European external border, the Canary Islands. More than 4,000 African migrants have arrived on Spain’s Canary Islands since the beginning of the year. Many of them are fleeing the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel with boats departing from Morocco and the territory of Western Sahara. They’re also departing hundreds of kilometres farther south from Mauritaina and Senegal. While arrivals to mainland Spain fell by half compared to the same period last year, landings in the Canary Islands increased nearly sevenfold. Island authorities say they have reached their limit. DW’s Jan-Philipp Scholz spoke with refugees and locals on the island of Fuerteventura.
Canary Islands become migration crisis’ latest refugee hotspot | DW News
