Spain has launched a diplomatic offensive to stem the flow of illegal immigrants who have been risking their lives making the dangerous crossing from West Africa to the Canary islands, so far this year 7,000 migrants have arrived in the islands which they see as a launch pad to finding work in Europe.
As Spain's deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandes de la Vega noted: "We are a first-world country bordering the third world. Just a few miles away there lies the poorest, impoverished continent, forgotten and neglected."
With its three-year Africa Plan, Spain aims to improve aid to the poorer African countries and persuade sub-Saharan countries to accept more deportees, it also wants more European aid to these countries, arguing that if there were more work opportunities at home, Africans would have less incentive to leave.
Spanish News in English is 1Casa.com
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