Isha Sesay
THE Balearics have asked to be given more resources from the Spanish government to tackle the continuing arrival of migrants to the region.
The parliamentary spokesperson for the PP party, Toni Costa, said that there could be no doubt about the existence of a migratory route from north Africa to the Balearics after the archipelago saw an ‘avalanche’ in migrant boats this month.
“We warned the government for months that this was going to happen, but no one listened to us or did anything to prevent it,” lamented Costa.
He also said that the Balearics had been ‘neglected by Pedro Sanchez’s government’ and that this was ‘nothing short of a disgrace’.
On September 21, Formentera, the smallest of all the Balearic Islands, registered a record number of new migrants, with almost 150 people arriving in just three days.
A week previously, 83 were found on the island’s shores with a local cyclist also stumbling upon 14 men the same week.
Costa also expressed his distaste at how the migrants were allegedly being treated and said that their ‘inhuman treatment’ implied that the Balearic government had insufficient resources to deal with the matter.
“In a society as advanced as the Balearic Islands, it is incomprehensible that we allow migrants to sleep in an underground car park.”
It comes as the bodies of eight migrants were found on beaches in Almería, bringing the total number of migrant deaths over the last year to 1,700.
READ MORE:
- Sole survivor found floating off Spain’s Canary Islands after migrant boat carrying 50 people overturns
- Two arrested for over death of more than 20 migrants attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands
- REFUGEES WELCOME: Regional government in Spain’s Valencia pledges to house unlimited number of underage migrants landing in Ceuta
