African migrants on Tenerife demonstrate to demand permission to travel to Spanish mainland
- The conditions in the refugee camps are unbearable, the Canarias7 television channel quoted participants at the rally as saying
- The Spanish government rejects this and only wants to move migrants in need of special care from the camps on the islands to the mainland
About 1,200 migrants and local supporters demonstrated on the Canary island of Tenerife, which belongs to Spain, for permission to travel to the Spanish mainland.
Migrants from Africa living in camps chanted “Freedom!” in the town of San Cristobal de la Laguna in the north of the island, the Canarias7 television channel reported on Saturday.
The conditions in the refugee camps are unbearable, the channel quoted participants at the rally as saying.
The Spanish government, however, rejects this and only wants to move migrants in need of special care from the camps on the islands to better accommodation on the mainland.
For the thousands of migrants on the islands, the situation is very difficult and has also led to anger among the local population, the newspaper El Pais reported.
The number of people who dare the life-threatening crossing from Africa across the Atlantic towards the Canaries rose sharply last year.
According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, some 23,000 migrants reached the archipelago off the west coast of North Africa in 2020.
The trend has continued in 2021: Since the beginning of the year, more than 2,300 people have arrived on the islands in small wooden boats.
It is not known how many people died at sea. The UNHCR estimates that more than 400 people died last year.
