Brussels, 24/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, after talks with the vice-president of the Spanish government, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, European Commissioner Franco Frattini revealed to the press a whole series of measures to help Spain come to grips with the recurrent problem of mass arrivals of illegal migrants along its coast. Spain's European partners should be taking part in aero-naval patrols in two weeks' time to oversee the waters between Africa and the Spanish archipelago. “Eight (Member States) have already volunteered and are ready to make rapid intervention craft and reconnaissance aircraft available”, Franco Frattini said, stressing that, in the longer term, such patrols may be foreseen toward Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Konakry. The EU25 are also said to have decided to finance centres in Mauritania and Senegal for illegal migrants turned back at sea or upon their arrival in the Canary Islands. According to Ms Fernandez de la Vega, these measures will be accompanied by logistic and operational support, thanks to “diplomatic deployment” on the part of member nations and the Commission. Spain and the Commission have expressed the hope that this diplomatic dialogue will then extend to other countries.
On 30 May, the FRONTEX management board is expected to decide to send two rapid intervention teams to the Canary Islands to take stock of the situation (identification of persons, the countries of origin, health checks). The European Commission has adopted an amendment of the European Fund for Refugees in order to strengthen the maritime surveillance system by satellite, mainly for Gibraltar. Ms Ferndandez de Vega also hopes that Iconet data, used to gather information on the flow of illegal migration, will be forwarded to these services in order to improve knowledge about Western African networks. Other information will be gathered by liaison officers based in sub-Saharan Africa to combat the mafia there, the minister pointed out. EUROPOL and the Situation Centre (Sitcen) will, moreover, assess the illegal immigration route from Western Africa.
A campaign for preventing immigration is also foreseen with a specific plan for Western Africa. Commissioner Frattini recalled that a number of measures already announced would allow support for the implementation of such a plan comprising: joint repatriation on which 14 Member States have already agreed, the rapid intervention mechanism for Mauritania, and the release by June of part of the €2.7 million earmarked for the Argo 2006 programme. Mr Frattini acknowledged that the situation today is serious, and said he expected the flow of illegal migrants to increase during the summer. “This is a shock plan”, commented Ms Fernandez de Vega, welcoming the fact that the Commission has pledged to work in a coordinated manner with other EU countries. “It is obvious that it is not just a problem for Spain but a problem for Europe as a whole. We must face it all together”, she said. Since early this year, 7,400 illegal immigrants have arrived in the Canaries Archipelago, i.e. five times as many as the same period last year. This new illegal migration route from Mauritania and Senegal has developed since overland routes via Ceuta and Melilla and the Gibraltar Straits were blocked.