CCOO Canarias has demanded "the urgent need for legal and safe routes for migration" after the death of twenty people and 17 survivors rescued yesterday in Mauritanian waters in the shipwreck of a cayuco that was heading to the Canary Islands with more than a hundred immigrants.
In a statement, the union has conveyed this Friday its "deepest condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims, the people of Gambia and all the communities that mourn this irreparable loss today", demanding "that these deaths do not fall into oblivion or political indifference."
According to the testimony of the survivors, the boat had set sail from Gambia six days before heading to the Canary Islands, transporting more than a hundred people, mostly of Gambian and Senegalese nationality, of whom the Mauritanian authorities recovered at least twenty corpses while the search efforts continue.
The union has pointed out that this event once again highlights "the harshness of the Atlantic Route to the Canary Islands, one of the most dangerous and deadly in the world, used by thousands of people fleeing poverty, violence, lack of employment and the absence of opportunities in their countries of origin."
CCOO has demanded the need for routes for migration in a safe and legal way "that prevent thousands of people from continuing to risk their lives in inhuman journeys", as well as the development of "decent, supportive and respectful reception policies with human rights."
Response to Abascal
"We firmly reject the intolerable statements of the VOX leader, Santiago Abascal, who yesterday once again insulted the memory and dignity of migrant people," the union added, denouncing that "this hate speech, based on lies and manipulation, aims to confront society, sow fear and point out as guilty those who only seek to survive."
The organization has reiterated its demand to national, European and international institutions to implement "migration policies based on social justice, the defense of human rights and development cooperation."
The union has concluded that "hate kills, and politics cannot be complicit in dehumanization," under the affirmation that "no person is illegal and no life should be lost at sea."
