The Diplomat
The migratory collaboration between the Spanish and Mauritanian authorities has reduced, so far this year, irregular arrivals from the coasts of Mauritania by more than 90%, as reported yesterday by the Ministry of Interior on the occasion of the two-day visit carried out by the head of the Department, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to the African country.
The Minister of the Interior made an official visit yesterday in Mauritania with the aim of further strengthening effective cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of migration, one of the priority axes of the migration policy established by the Government. “Cooperation with countries like Mauritania is one of the keys that is allowing us to reduce year after year the irregular arrivals to Spain and that is also allowing us to save lives by preventing mafias from putting thousands of people at risk,” said the minister.
Grande-Marlaska met in Nouakchott with the Ministers of Interior and Decentralization, Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine; of Defense, Hanana Ould Sidi; and of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Mohamed Ould Abdine Ould Emaiyif. He will also meet today with the President of the country, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and will visit the National Police and Civil Guard detachments in the city of Nouadhibou, which are in charge of collaborating with the Mauritanian authorities to dismantle the trafficking mafias and to prevent irregular departures.
In this third visit of Grande-Marlaska to the country, the minister thanked his counterpart for “the great effort in preventive matters that the Mauritanian authorities are carrying out, together with the Spanish State Security Forces and Corps, and which is proving to be decisive in avoiding a significant number of departures to the Canary Islands”.
For his part, the Mauritanian Minister of the Interior agreed on his country’s willingness to promote bilateral cooperation. “Mauritania has been and continues to be interested in everything that helps to create a real space for exchange with Spain in different fields and sectors, especially in the areas of cooperation in security and the fight against illegal immigration, smuggling and all forms of crime and organized crime, as well as in training and exchange of experiences in these areas,” he said during the meeting.
Results of the collaboration
According to Interior, Spain’s collaboration with Mauritanian authorities has prevented about 40 percent of departures to the Canary Islands. The “most tangible result of this collaboration,” according to the Ministry, is that, compared to the 1,957 irregular arrivals that occurred in 2021 from the Mauritanian coasts, so far this year there have only been 166 (a decrease of 91.5 percent). “We are talking about fewer departures, but also fewer deaths at sea, the joint work of the Mauritanian and Spanish Security Forces saves lives and is an example to follow,” stressed Grande-Marlaska.
The Guardia Civil troops deployed in Mauritania, together with the Gendarmerie, Police and Coast Guard, have carried out, only in the second quarter of 2022, 351 actions, with the intervention of 28 cayucos and the interception of 4,344 migrants, including organizers and collaborators dedicated to promoting human trafficking. In addition, the National Police, for its part, so far in 2022, has carried out a total of 125 actions together with its Mauritanian counterparts, which has led to the dismantling of 25 criminal organizations dedicated to human trafficking. Grande-Marlaska congratulated his Mauritanian counterpart for these results and advocated “continuing to develop collaboration strategies”, which can be expanded “with multilateral European support”.
The Spanish minister also stressed “the strategic nature of Mauritania for Spain, not only in the field of migration, but also in other areas such as the fight against terrorism, organized crime, road safety or civil protection”. In the field of the fight against terrorism, the Interior Ministers addressed the situation in the Sahel and shared the need to establish international actions and strategies against groups operating in that region. “The exchange of information and operational cooperation are essential to address these threats,” concluded Grande-Marlaska.
