Spain Ramps Up Deportations of Moroccan Migrants from Canary Islands

These expulsions are inspired by the repatriation agreement signed a few years ago between Rome and Tunis. It provides for 80 expulsions per week of Tunisian migrants to their country of origin, reports EFE, citing Sara Prestianni, a migration and asylum official at the NGO EuroMed rights. Since December, four flights carrying 20 undocumented Moroccan migrants handcuffed and under police escort have been flying to Laâyoune, the starting point for migrant boats heading to the Spanish archipelago.

The Spanish activist also denounces the "lack of transparency" around the agreements concluded between Spain and Morocco, which are, according to her, "verbal and not written". According to the same media, Moroccans represent more than half of the total arrivals recorded in 2020 in the Spanish archipelago. Nearly 12,000 (11,998) Moroccans arrived on this archipelago in 2020 out of the 23,023 arrivals in the Canaries in 2020, according to figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

These expulsions of Moroccans in an irregular situation should continue throughout the year, as migrants continue to land in Spain. Since 2020, 4,226 people have arrived in the Iberian neighbor - compared to 4,428 in 2019 - including 2,341 in the Canaries, more than double the 1,103 arrivals recorded in the Spanish archipelago in 2020 during the same period.