After learning of the court's decision to release the 44 migrants (from a group of 49) who arrived in Lanzarote as stowaways on a tugboat that set sail from Senegal, the mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, has requested the National Government to "send the 44 Senegalese migrants who disembarked in the capital on Friday afternoon, after authorization from the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands, to the Peninsula."
The mayor already warned on Friday morning, before the Dutch tugboat with the 49 stowaways entered Spanish jurisdictional waters, that "he found it surprising that the Spanish Government authorized the docking and disembarkation of the migrants in Arrecife when the tugboat - according to its satellite position - was closer to the Moroccan port of Tarfaya."
For the mayor, the Government Delegation "should have applied international maritime law, and demanded that the tugboat bound for Belgium continue to its nearest port, Tarfaya, in Morocco."
Yonathan de León already alerted the media, in an appearance near Puerto de Naos, that "he feared that these migrants would resort to the figure of stowaways to remain in Spanish territory," as has happened.
For the mayor, the "humanitarian authorization given by the Government of Spain can be used by the mafias that transfer migrants from the African continent to the Canary Islands, which is experiencing an alarming situation with irregular migratory pressure, the majority being minors." The mayor expresses his "concern that this decision by the Government, against the will of the people of Lanzarote, may be the gateway to the Canary Islands for future arrivals of African migrants by boat."
The magistrate dismisses in her resolution "that there is a risk of flight or proven intent of illegal entry into Spain, and frames the event as a humanitarian rescue rather than a clandestine arrival operation, which has allowed these 44 asylum seekers to be released." The others, up to 49, are in the process of being protected as minors, according to what was learned this Monday after the judge's decision.
Given the lack of facilities in Lanzarote for people who rely on refugee status, the mayor of Arrecife has demanded that the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration "send them to the Peninsula, where they can be provided with humanitarian assistance." The mayor has lamented that "the Government Delegation disseminated confusing and contradictory information through the media regarding this situation."