Bridge to hope

“Bridge to hope”: that’s how OSCAR GUERRA , delegate for migrations of the diocese of Tenerife, calls the Canary Isles. He describes the characteristics of the new immigration directed at Spain from various African countries over the last 11 months. Spain has already begun repatriating clandestine immigrants, sending back over a thousand from Senegal who had recently disembarked in the Canaries. The provisions form part of the new policies adopted by the government to control immigration, more restrictive towards clandestine immigrants. We interviewed Oscar Guerra. The Spanish government seems to have changed direction on immigration and promises tougher controls and fewer permits. What’s your view of that? “Attempts are now being made to patch up a situation that is becoming intolerable due to the continuous arrival of new ‘cayucos’ (fishing boats) packed with immigrants in the Canary Isles and reports of hundreds of other boats that are preparing to sail for Spain in search of a better future. But can immigration be blocked? Is it not a right of men and women? “We are faced by a ‘sign’ of the times that the enforcement of no law will stop, since emigrating is a right of each person according to the Charter of Human Rights. Moreover, if we really want to find a solution, we ought to begin by putting into place a project of solidarity and cooperation with African countries. We also need to promote education and the application of technologies of development in the immigrants’ countries of origin. That will be the only impetus that will stop them from embarking on the risky adventure of emigration”. Previously the small boats known as “pateras” arrived in Spain. Now it’s big fishing vessels, the “cayucos”. How far has the number of people who succeed in reaching the coasts of Spain grown? “A year ago we didn’t even know what a ‘cayuco’ was: it’s a type of fishing boat built in Mauritania and Senegal. No one suspected this word would bring with it the dramatic situation we are now experiencing here in the Canaries. Previously, immigrants, rash and deceived by the mirage of ‘paradise’ Europe, came with ‘pateras’, small boats some 5-7 metres long used by criminal gangs to transport migrants as far as the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. For ten years that’s how it was. But in recent months control over the ‘pateras’ has been stepped up and it seemed their number was tailing off. But now the big fishing boats are arriving: at least 500 people per day”. A really desperate situation… “The real name of this situation is ‘Africa and inequalities of every type’. Nor should we forget that the bulk of immigration in the Canaries arrives through the airports with tourist visas. They go to swell the number of irregulars who are exploited as cheap labour. But the gravity of the situation now leads us to shift our gaze out to sea. They are arriving in unbelievable conditions. Last weekend alone, some 3,600 ‘boat people’ arrived after a voyage of six days. Not to mention those who fail to make it and drown at sea: their number we shall never know”. How is the local Church coping with this emergency? “We in the Church feel a sense of impotence: since the problem is considered of high risk, only some agencies are allowed to work directly with the immigrants: the Civil Guard, the local police, the Health Service of the Canaries and the Red Cross. The Church makes herself present through Caritas to facilitate all the necessary resources for our delegation. We work tirelessly to raise the awareness of our people about the desperate situation these people are in and to obtain a commensurate response to the emergency. The local community must welcome immigrants as ‘other living faces’ of Christ himself”.