How EU efforts to stem migration affect a dangerous sea route to the Canary Islands

Amna Nawaz:

The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will visit Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic this June. The islands are destinations for thousands of migrants seeking asylum in Europe. And it's a dangerous, desperate journey. Many have died trying to reach European shores.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

This is the Spanish island of El Hierro in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa, one of the most southwesterly points of European Union territory. It's a sight that will raise the spirits of thousands of migrants who dream of reaching Europe, proof that, despite the massive risks, it's possible to make it from West Africa to Spain's Canary Island archipelago.

This Spanish Coast Guard vessel is helping a traditional boat called a cayuco reach shore after a hellish journey.

Lauren Seibert, Human Rights Watch:

When you're crossing the Atlantic and you're departing from Mauritania's shores or Senegal, which is even further, the journey can be anywhere from five to 10 days sometimes.

Malcolm Brabant:

Lauren Seibert is a researcher for Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit with a global reach.

Lauren Seibert:

And then, if they get lost, which does happen, then your supplies run out and water runs out, the engine can break down, and you can be drifting at sea for weeks, and it just can be really horrific with the lives that are lost.

Malcolm Brabant:

Funerals of migrants who've died during the crossing are a common occurrence in the Canary Islands. These graveyards contain just a handful of the thousands who've succumbed to the waves in recent years.

Alpido Armas is the president of El Hierro Island Council.

Alpido Armas, President, El Hierro Island Council (through interpreter):

We're talking about people who've been found on the American coast mummified. Yes, if they drift off course and don't find El Hierro, they end up in South America, so it is one of the most dangerous and deadly routes.

Malcolm Brabant:

Despite the dangers, migrants keep coming; 57 Africans aboard this cayuco were rescued off the island of Gran Canaria, last November. Official statistics reveal that nearly 17,000 migrants reached the Canaries in 2025. That's 40 percent of the previous year's record influx.

The numbers show that the European Union's policy of paying African nations to thwart asylum seekers is working. Last year, Human Rights Watch accused Mauritanian law enforcement agencies of a campaign of torture, rape and violence against migrants such as this man who gave his name as Gibson.

Gibson, Asylum Seeker:

The pain that is inside is too much. I don't able to walk of the beating I had.

Malcolm Brabant:

This is Mauritanian's president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, meeting Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to discuss immigration. In total, the E.U. has given Mauritania $250 million for what is labeled migration management.

Lauren Seibert:

And this is being done in the context of cracking down on irregular migration, particularly towards Spain's Canary Islands.

And it's being supported and fueled by the E.U. and Spain, bilaterally, who have been really encouraging Mauritania to get tough on migration and have been funding Mauritanian security forces, providing equipment, the same playbook that we have seen in other countries across North Africa, particularly Tunisia, for example.

Malcolm Brabant:

Mauritania denies the allegations and insists it has implemented reforms. The E.U. has also given Mauritania's southern neighbor Senegal $35 million to stem the flow of would-be migrants.

Last September, Senegalese authorities intercepted 112 migrants after their vessel lost its motor and began drifting in the Atlantic. All those aboard were taken into custody. Nonprofits are increasingly concerned about the harsh treatment migrants face in Africa.

So, in essence, are you saying that the European Union is turning a blind eye to these human rights abuses?

Lauren Seibert:

I think it has been, and it has always prioritized enforcing the borders over human lives. Just look at the deaths in the Atlantic. Why not put more resources into search-and-rescue? That really, really needs to be supported and bolstered and expanded. Why not pour more resources into development without strings attached of migration control?

Malcolm Brabant:

European attitudes have changed dramatically in the years following the continent's refugee crisis, which began in 2015, with waves of predominantly Syrians landing in rubber boats on the Greek islands after setting off from nearby Turkey.

In the early months of the influx, there was widespread sympathy for the asylum seekers. But more than a decade later, several European member states have adopted anti-immigrant measures. As these recent images show, however, Spain's Socialist-led government has broken ranks with a surprised reversal of policy.

It's offered amnesty to at least half-a-million illegal migrants in a bid to fill holes in the labor market. These people are queuing outside their consulate in Barcelona to obtain a document stating they have no criminal record at home, an essential for those wishing to stay.

Abdourahman, Asylum Seeker:

There will be a lot of difference. Like, I can travel to my home country and meet my parents, and work here legally, so I can pay my tax. And, further, I can apply for my permanent residency

Malcolm Brabant:

But there's widespread concern across Europe that Spain's decision to legalize so many asylum seekers will lead to more scenes like this, with migrants waiting in the shallows to claim their $1,500 dollars on board a rubber dinghy.

The location, Northern France, destination, Southern Britain. Such images are fueling growing anti-immigrant hostility across Europe. Back in Spain's El Hierro, footballer Sana Da Silva, who took a boat from Senegal 4.5 years ago, urges his fellow travelers to think twice about boarding one of those wooden fishing canoes.

Sana Da Silva, El Hierro Resident (through interpreter):

No, really, I wouldn't advise anyone to take this route. But, yes, everyone has their own way of existing. It's their decision to make. But I would never advise anyone to go down this path. But it's hard to tell someone they're making a bad choice.

Malcolm Brabant:

Recent history suggests many more will ignore that advice, but for everyone who reaches the Canary Islands, many more will fail and drown.

For the "PBS News Hour," with the Global Reporting Center, I'm Malcolm Brabant.