Page 6 - aruba-today-20240724

A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 24 July 2024
Thousands of migrant kids have reached the Canary Islands

alone. Local officials want Spain’s help

By RENATA BRITO Spain.
Associated Press As a result, the children
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) and teenagers languish-
— The children sometimes ing on the islands are not
won’t stop crying. Health receiving the protections
workers dealing with mi- they are entitled to under
grants arriving on Spain’s Spanish and European law,
Canary Islands try to under- including education and
stand if the tears are from healthcare. Spanish media
illness, injury or, as is often have reported overcrowd-
the case, from pure shock. ed centers as well as cases
One young Senegalese boy of abuse and mistreatment.
who disembarked recently On the island of Lanzarote,
kept fainting every few min- authorities have set up tem-
utes, troubling doctors who porary tents to accommo-
couldn’t determine the date the new arrivals.
cause. Other migrants final- Candil warned that the sit-
ly explained: the boy had uation is only expected to
witnessed both parents die deteriorate as boats keep
during the arduous boat sailing from the coasts of
voyage from West Africa. Senegal, Mauritania and
Their bodies were thrown the Western Sahara to the
overboard into the Atlantic Spanish islands just 100 kilo-
Ocean. A baby is carried by members of the Red Cross in the port of La Restinga at El Hierro in the Canary metres (60 miles) from Af-
“There’s no medicine for Islands on Saturday, June 6, 2024, after being rescued by the Spanish Sea Rescue. rica’s western coast.
that,” said Inmaculada Associated Press Nearly 20,000 men, women
Mora Peces, a 54-year-old and children have reached
emergency doctor who erty, conflict and instability. with 177 votes against it, tastrophe,” said Francisco the Canaries so far this year,
treats migrants arriving on Yet on Tuesday, Spain’s 171 votes for it and 1 ab- Candil, a regional govern- a 160% increase from 2023.
the island of El Hierro. parliament rejected a leg- stention. ment official in charge of And that’s even before the
Mora Peces is among a islative proposal that would Under Spanish law, the re- social welfare. high season for migrant
growing number of peo- have forced other regions gional authorities where the Not only do the Canary Is- crossings begins in the fall,
ple sounding the alarm as to take responsibility for children arrive are respon- lands lack physical space, Candil added.
the archipelago struggles some of the minors current- sible for their guardianship. but the regional govern- Earlier this year, the EU
to deal with thousands of ly stuck on the Canaries in But the Canary Islands ment is struggling to hire signed a 210 million euro
teenagers and children dire conditions. government says it is over- professionals trained to deal with Mauritania to stop
traveling alone to the Eu- The proposal, which whelmed, with more than work with the young mi- smugglers from launching
ropean Union territory from sparked a national debate 5,500 minors far above its grants on the islands locat- boats for Spain. But the
Senegal, Mali, and other Af- and political crisis, was re- capacity for 2,000. ed some 1,300 kilometers deal has had little effect on
rican nations, fleeing pov- jected on Tuesday evening “It’s a humanitarian ca- (800 miles) from mainland migrant arrivals for now. q

Mudslides in Ethiopia have killed at least 229. It’s not clear how

many people are still missing

By AMANUEL GEBREMEDHIN (AP) — Mudslides triggered ing many who tried to res- statement said it felt sor- are hugging corpses, hav-
BIRHANE by heavy rain in a remote cue survivors, local authori- row over the disaster. Prime ing lost their entire family,
Associated Press part of Ethiopia have killed ties said Tuesday, in what Minister Abiy Ahmed said in including mother, father,
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia at least 229 people, includ- the prime minister called a statement on Facebook brother and sister,” he said.
a “terrible loss.”Young chil- that he was “deeply sad- Some women wailed as
dren and pregnant women dened by this terrible loss.” rescuers attempted to dig
were among the victims in The federal disaster preven- through the thick mud with
Kencho Shacha Gozdi dis- tion task force has been shovels.
trict of southern Ethiopia, deployed to assist in search Landslides are common
said Dagmawi Ayele, a lo- and rescue efforts, Abiy’s during Ethiopia’s rainy rea-
cal administrator, adding statement said. son, which started in July
that at least five people It was not immediately and is expected to last until
have been pulled out alive. clear how many people mid-September.
The death toll rose sharp- were still unaccounted for. Deadly mudslides often
ly from the initial one of Many victims were buried occur in the wider East Af-
55 late Monday. Search on Monday as rescue work- rican region, from Ugan-
operations continued in ers searched the steep ter- da’s mountainous east to
the area, said Kassahun rain for survivors of another central Kenya’s highlands.
Abayneh, head of the mudslide the previous day. In April, at least 45 people
communications office in Markos Melese, director of were killed in Kenya’s Rift
In this handout photo released by Gofa Zone Government Gofa Zone, the administra- the disaster response agen- Valley region when flash
Communication Affairs Department, hundreds of people gather tive area where the mud- cy in Gofa Zone, said many floods and a landslide
at the site of a mudslide in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district, slides occurred. rescuers remained missing. swept through houses and
Gofa Zone, southern Ethiopia, Monday, July 22, 2024. Ethiopia’s ruling party in a “There are children who cut off a major road.q
Associated Press