Up to 40% of migrants die attempting Canary Islands crossing, former Spanish police official says
By Prosper Okoye
As many as 40% of African migrants attempting the perilous Atlantic crossing to Spain's Canary Islands may be dying at sea, according to a former Spanish police official who spent years overseeing migrant arrivals on the archipelago.
Javier Leon, now Deputy Team Lead at FIAP and formerly Chief Inspector of a police unit responsible for handling African migrants on Tenerife, said about 40,000 migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024. However, he estimated that thousands more may have perished during the journey.
"We save a lot of lives, but many are lost in the Atlantic Ocean," Leon said in an interview.
According to Leon, intelligence gathered from satellite surveillance, fishing vessels and other monitoring sources suggests that for every 40,000 migrants who successfully reached the islands last year, as many as 15,000 others may have died attempting the crossing from the West African coast.
The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, increasingly used by migrants from West and Central Africa seeking entry into Europe, is regarded by humanitarian organisations as one of the world's most dangerous migration corridors.
Reception and processing
Leon said migrants arriving on the islands are received by Spanish police officers and Red Cross medical personnel at designated ports of entry.
Those requiring urgent medical attention are transferred to hospitals, while others undergo interviews with the assistance of interpreters to establish their nationality, migration route and any links to human trafficking or migrant smuggling networks.
After initial processing, which includes fingerprinting and photographing, migrants are transferred to facilities managed by non-governmental organisations. Leon said the Spanish government funds their onward transportation to reception centres on the mainland, while unaccompanied minors are placed in specialised facilities offering education and welfare support.
He added that migrants are generally not detained beyond an initial screening period of fewer than 20 days.
"After that, they are free to move wherever they want, inside Spain and even beyond," Leon said, noting that Europe's border-free Schengen Area enables movement between many EU member states.
Deportation challenges
Leon said deportations are frequently complicated by difficulties in confirming migrants' identities and nationalities.
According to him, some migrants destroy identity documents or provide inaccurate information about their country of origin, making verification more difficult.
He also claimed that some countries do not readily acknowledge nationals facing deportation, even when language specialists and investigators believe they have established a person's nationality.
"It's not easy to deport them," Leon said.
He argued that both European destination countries and countries of origin share responsibility for improving cooperation on migrant returns and reintegration programmes.
Leon further alleged that corruption in some countries can undermine reintegration initiatives by diverting resources intended for returning migrants. He did not provide specific examples.
Claims of mistreatment rejected
Addressing allegations sometimes raised within migrant communities, Leon rejected claims that deportees are drugged or deliberately harmed before being returned to their home countries.
"Never, ever, would anyone give them any kind of substance," he said.
Leon said deportation procedures in Spain include medical examinations, access to legal representation and judicial oversight.
He acknowledged that some deportees may experience psychological distress but attributed this largely to the hardships they encounter during their time in Europe, including homelessness, poverty and failed expectations.
"In some cases, deportation is like a relief for them," he said.
Concerns over human trafficking
Leon also raised concerns about the activities of human trafficking networks operating between Africa and Europe.
He claimed that some Nigerian women arriving in Spain are forced into prostitution to repay debts owed to traffickers who financed their migration journeys.
According to Leon, these women are often controlled by individuals commonly referred to as "madams" and may be reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement authorities because of fears for the safety of relatives back home.
"They don't trust the European authorities," he said. "They think the European police is the same as the Nigerian police."
Leon said the reluctance of victims to testify continues to hamper efforts to dismantle trafficking networks.
Call for legal migration pathways
Leon argued that European countries should create more legal migration channels linked to labour market needs, saying restrictive visa regimes have failed to reduce migration pressures.
"Europe needs migrants because we need workers," he said.
He called for formal agreements between European and African governments that would allow legal labour migration while strengthening cooperation on the return of migrants who enter Europe irregularly, particularly those convicted of criminal offences.
According to Leon, expanding safe and legal migration opportunities could help reduce reliance on smuggling networks and lower the number of deaths on dangerous migration routes such as the Atlantic crossing to the Canary Islands.
Tags:#Migration #CanaryIslands #AfricaEuropeMigration
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