The Plenary of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, at the request of the president, Maria Dolores Corujo, has approved this Monday an institutional declaration with which a call is made for unity against racism and xenophobia, in the face of the "human drama" that the migratory crisis of this 2020 is posing for the Islands.
Corujo lamented the almost 400 deaths of migrants in their attempt to reach the Archipelago and described these events as "a humanitarian drama that, by dint of being repeated, camouflages its condition as an authentic tragedy behind the coldness of the figures." In fact, as she recalled, 382 victims have already been counted in the sea and on the Canarian coasts throughout the year, according to data from the international project Missing Migrants.
Faced with this, "we only have the possibility of humanely welcoming the survivors of a journey that is considered by NGOs as the deadliest in the world," said the president.
"The figure of 382 deaths represents almost 26% of the deaths that occur when trying to access Europe. While this is a shocking figure, the data from the NGO Caminado Fronteras are even harsher. According to the NGO, the dramatic record of almost half a thousand lives lost in just one week was reached in mid-November, so the number of deaths throughout 2020 would be much higher, possibly reaching a quarter of the departures to the Canary Islands," they recall from the Cabildo.
"These cold statistics overwhelm us and do not even allow us to imagine the pain that is hidden behind them. For each of those deceased people there is a desperate family trying to find out what has happened, who has not even been left with the consolation of receiving a body in which to honor the memory of the person who died in pursuit of a dream. We can do nothing for those who died at sea and to those few who die on our coasts, we can only give them a decent burial or repatriate their corpses," concluded the president.
From the Island Corporation they also recall that the president received in the Cabildo earlier this month the residents of Órzola who actively collaborated in the rescue of the migrants who shipwrecked on November 24 off the north coast of the Island, when the boat in which they were traveling collided against the breakwater of the dock, killing at least eight of its occupants.
