Spain becomes main entry point for migrants in Europe

Spain becomes main entry point for migrants in Europe

Spanish coastguards have collected over 400 migrants in the Mediterranean over the first two days of 2019 and brought them to Spain. An NGO ship which docked in Spain also brought in 311 migrants, mainly of African origin.

Leonard Doyle, spokesman for the UN's International Organization for Migration, told RTÉ that 56,000 "irregular migrants" migrated to Spain in 2018, making it the main entry point in Europe for migrants ahead of Greece and Italy. Doyle said the EU's action on smugglers in Libya had probably caused them to use Morocco as a launching point.

Morocco is not a conflict zone but Doyle was not asked why the migrants were not claiming asylum there if they were legitimate refugees.

In February of 2018, it was estimated that there were around 500,000 failed asylum seekers in Italy. There were a further 200,000 migrants who are waiting for their application to be processed and only 30,000 were recognised as genuine refugees.
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One reason for Salvini's Lega party in the 2018 Italian election was because he promised to crack down on NGOs and economic migrants abusing the asylum system to enable migrants to move to Europe.

Doyle said that in December "the world community" came together and agreed to the UN's Global Compact on Migration — "and that essentially requests safe, orderly and regular migration so it essentially turns from a smugglers' racket into a managed process" promoting humanitarian border management and giving "the opportunity for workers to go to countries where people are needed."

Doyle said he expected the numbers to keep coming as long as there are huge inequalities in between the African continent and Europe while at the same time a billion new Africans would be coming onto this planet in the next 30 years. He finished "you're going to have a demand for jobs and as long as that demand is there and it's not being met locally, there will be pressure for people to migrate and that's what is happening."

Broadcast: RTÉ Radio One | Morning Ireland | 03 jan 2019

https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=uyLJsehNraE

https://www.invidio.us/channel/UCgzyycFR6PEv-B90rAiFsQg