“Un grupo de cuatro inmigrantes de origen africano arribó ayer a la isla de Gran Canaria a bordo de una pequeña lancha …. Es la primera embarcación de «sin papeles» que arriba a Canarias en lo que llevamos de este año 2010, y llegó a las costas del Archipiélago sin ser detectada.”
“[L]a embarcación … no fue detectada por el Sistema Integrado de Vigilancia Exterior (SIVE)…”
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Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, News, Spain
According to an article appearing in DI-VE, over 35% of the 9,554 migrants who arrived in Malta over the past 5 years were Somali. “The second largest group [was] from Eritrea (1,259), followed by Egypt (755), Nigeria (652) and Sudan (596).”
Total Irregular Migrant Arrivals in Malta:
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | Total |
| 1,822 | 1,780 | 1,702 | 2,775 | 1,475 | 9,554 |
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Malta, Mediterranean, News
During a recent briefing to the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament, Frontex Executive Director Ilkka Laitinen revealed that the Frontex name for its four year old interdiction operation in the central Mediterranean will change from “Nautilus” to “Chronos” as of April 2010.
“According to figures given by Frontex [at the briefing], only 3,300 illegal immigrants reached Malta and Lampedusa last year, less than half the number registered in the previous year. In the case of Malta, there were 2,775 arrivals in 2008 and 1,475 in 2009.”
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Frontex, Malta, Mediterranean, News
2,242 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands in 2009 compared with approximately 9,000 in 2008. This was the lowest number of migrant arrivals since 1999 when 2,165 migrants arrived. There were 32 confirmed migrant deaths in 2009 compared to 45 in 2008.
The largest number of migrant arrivals took place in 2006 when 31,859 migrants arrived. Coordinated Frontex operations were expanded beginning in May 2006. Since 1994 there have been over 96,000 recorded arrivals.
Click here (EN), here (FR) and here (ES) for articles.
Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, News, Spain
“Le chef du gouvernement espagnol José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero s’est félicité … que le nombre de clandestins arrivés en Espagne soit retombé à 7.000 en 2009 contre 14.000 en 2008, estimant être en train de ‘gagner le combat’ contre l’immigration illégale.”
“Selon des statistiques encore provisoires, le nombre des clandestins subsahariens arrivés cette année dans des embarcations de fortune sur le seul l’archipel espagnol des Canaries, au large de l’Afrique, est retombé à environ 2.250, contre plus de 9.000 en 2008 et un record de 31.600 en 2006. Le nombre de clandestins arrivés cette année sur les côtes d’Andalousie, en provenance notamment du Maghreb, a en revanche augmenté.”
Zapatero “a attribué cette baisse globale aux accords de coopération conclus avec les pays d’origine en Afrique et au renforcement des moyens de lutte contre l’immigration clandestine, notamment le dispositif européen Frontex au large des côtes africaines.”
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Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, Mediterranean, News, Spain
Australia’s off-shore detention centre on Christmas Island is at capacity. Authorities have expanded the centre’s capacity by erecting tents.
So far this year Australian authorities have intercepted 55 boats carrying approximately 2700 people. 1447 people are detained on the island. The use of tents has reportedly expanded detention capacity to 1560.
The migrant flow is expected to slow in January with the onset of the typhoon season in the waters north of Australia.
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Filed under Australia, Data / Stats, News
Di-ve.com reports that migrant arrivals in Malta in 2009 were the lowest since 2004.
“Sources close to Frontex … believe that a number of factors helped … Frontex’s Nautilus patrols, the strengthening of border controls in the Central Mediterranean and tighter inland measures in member states certainly discouraged movement of migrants. … The agreement between Italy and Libya for migrants to be returned to Libya also had an impact but …there are also agreements in place with Algeria and Tunisia, while Libya also reached an agreement with Niger, which is another popular transit country for migrants heading towards Europe. There has been a shift towards the eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey and the Aegean islands seeing numbers increase, the sources said.”
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Boats | 21 | 12 | 53 | 48 | 57 | 68 | 84 | 17 |
| Migrants | 1686 | 502 | 1388 | 1822 | 1780 | 1702 | 2775 | 1475 |
Click here for full article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Frontex, Malta, Mediterranean, News
The UNHCR released its most recent estimates of the numbers of Africans who have crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to Yemen in 2009. UNHCR believes over 74,000 people made the crossing which is estimated to be a 50% increase over last year.
Ethiopians (42,000) now make up the largest group of migrants making the crossing. In previous years Somalis were the largest group.
“According to the latest UNHCR statistics, at least 309 people drowned or did not survive the trip this year. In 2008, some 590 people died during the crossing. Many more people went missing and are presumed dead. The mixed migration route through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea is presently the busiest and the deadliest one in the world.”
“While virtually all arriving Somalis approach the two, strategically positioned reception centres in Mayfaa and Ahwar, where they receive protection and assistance, only some 9,000 Ethiopians went to these venues this year. Most press on towards the Persian Gulf states in search of job opportunities.”
Click here for UNHCR press release.
Filed under Data / Stats, Ethiopia, Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, UNHCR, Yemen
The UNHCR estimates that over 50,000 migrants in approximately 994 boats have crossed the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen so far this year. UNHCR says there has been a 50% increase in crossings compared with the same period last year. September and October are usually the busiest months due to favourable sea conditions.
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, Yemen
The Italian Government has rejected the ongoing criticism by HRW and others of its push back policy.
News24 reports that Interior undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, stated that Italian authorities “have never denied” intercepted migrants the right to ask for asylum. “Each operation to escort migrants back to Libya lasted more than 10 hours during which none of the people involved, asked to be recognised as refugees, nor did they say they were fleeing from persecution in their countries of origin, Mantovano said.”
According to Mantovano, 757 migrants have been forcibly returned to Libya between May 6 and August 30.
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Filed under Data / Stats, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
The UNHCR reports that at least 16 migrants are dead and 49 others missing and presumed dead in the Gulf of Aden in three separate incidents over the past two days.
The UNHCR estimates that 860 boats carrying 43,586 migrants have crossed the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen so far this year. UNHCR estimates that at least 273 migrants have drowned.
In one of the incidents a Belgian warship on an EU anti-piracy patrol rescued 38 migrants from a sinking boat. The Belgian ship disembarked the survivors at the Yemeni port of Mulkalla.
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Filed under Data / Stats, Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, Yemen
164 Haitian migrants were interdicted and returned to Haiti by the US Coast Guard earlier this week. 1,374 Haitians have been stopped and returned to Haiti by US authorities to date in 2009.
“The summer has been largely silent in terms of repatriation but dozens were caught and sent packing in the first quarter of the year. January was especially a busy month, with 621 Haitians sent back in the first month of 2009.”
Click here for article.
Filed under Caribbean - West Indies, Data / Stats, Haiti, News, United States
Italian Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, claims a 92% reduction in the arrivals of irregular migrants since 5 May when the new Italian policy of turning migrants back to Libya was put in place.
Since 5 May there have been 1,345 migrant arrivals in Italy compared with 14,220 over the same period in 2008.
“Repulsion” works: “This means that our accord with Libya is working excellently: it works, and the results are there to be seen”. “Repulsion, is the same as saying taking the irregular migrants back to their place of departure. Repatriation means sending them back to their countries of origin, with all the bureaucracy that involves,” said Maroni.
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
40% and 63% reductions in migrant arrivals by boat in Spain and the Canary Islands, respectively, are in comparison with the first seven months of last year.
Click here for Spanish Interior Ministry Press release.
Click here for article.
Ministerio del Interior: “Durante los siete primeros meses de 2009, el número de ciudadanos extranjeros llegados a España en embarcaciones ha descendido a 4.457 personas, lo que supone una reducción de casi un 40% con respecto al mismo periodo de 2008 y de un 74,4% en relación al mismo periodo de 2006.”
| Llegados en embarcaciones |
|
2009 |
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
| 4.457 |
7.165 |
7.883 |
17.433 |
“El descenso es particularmente significativo en Canarias, donde han llegado 1.798 inmigrantes, 3.141 menos que en 2008 (un 63,6% menos), y 11.972 menos que en 2006 (un 87% menos).”
| Llegados a Canarias |
|
2009 |
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
|
1.798 |
4.939 |
5.680 |
13.770 |
“El descenso en la llegada de inmigrantes a las costas españolas se explica fundamentalmente por la eficacia tanto de las repatriaciones como de las medidas de control, especialmente de los dispositivos desplegados en la costa atlántica africana. De hecho, durante los meses de abril y mayo no se produjo ninguna llegada de inmigrantes irregulares a las costas canarias. Al menos desde 1999 no se registraba un mes sin llegadas de inmigrantes a través de embarcaciones a Canarias.”
“El ministro del Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, viajó a finales de julio a Mali y Senegal para seguir reforzando la cooperación con los países de origen y tránsito de la inmigración ilegal y rubricar la prórroga de los acuerdos que permiten el despliegue de medios policiales europeos en la costa senegalesa con el fin de evitar la salida de inmigrantes irregulares con destino a la Unión Europea.”
Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, News, Spain
49 migrants were repatriated to Ghana on 11 August. 270 migrants have been repatriated by Malta so far this year.
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Malta, Mediterranean, News
MIGRANTS AT SEA 