The Diplomat
The Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, met yesterday in Nouakchott with the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, whose country is a “key partner” for Spain in migratory matters.
According to the minister, who continued yesterday his official visit to Mauritania, the collaboration of the Mauritanian authorities with the detachments of the National Police and the Civil Guard deployed in the area has prevented, at source, 40 percent of departures of irregular immigrants to the Canary Islands.
For this reason, during his meeting with the President, Grande-Marlaska expressed Spain’s will to continue developing “collaboration strategies, based on mutual trust and respect, with the objective of maintaining the high level of efficiency existing up to now in the face of shared challenges”.
Among the initiatives already implemented, the Minister highlighted the operational results of the International Cooperation Team (ECI), in which the National Police collaborates with the Mauritanian Security Forces to dismantle human trafficking organizations. Another example of this collaboration, he added, are the joint patrols that the Guardia Civil carries out by land, sea and air with the Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard to prevent irregular departures.
During his stay in Mauritania, the minister visited yesterday the National Police and Civil Guard detachments in the city of Nouadhibou with the mission of collaborating with the Mauritanian authorities to dismantle the trafficking mafias and to prevent irregular departures.
