The Gambia — Monitoring of departures areas — the Gambia movements to the canary islands 2 (October - November 2022)

For almost a few years an increasing number of people have taken the West African Atlantic Route (WAAR). This migratory route, which had been particularly active in 2006, has once again become a route frequently taken by sub-Saharan migrants. Thus in 2019, reference year for this report, 2,687 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands (Spain). Year after year, the number of migrants arriving irregularly in the Canary Islands continues to increase.

Between January 1 to November 30, 2022, no less than 15,082 migrants arrived on the Canary Islands compared to 2021 when for the same period there were 19,865 migrants, a decrease of 24.1 percent.

Migrants generally leave the coasts of Morocco or Mauritania which are closer to the Canary Islands.

However, departures are often prepared from the coasts of Gambia and the trip to the Canary Islands often includes several intermediate stages. Since August 2022, IOM The Gambia has been monitoring the main departure points for boats bound for the Canary Islands. This report presents the main data collected, the methodology used, and the other events identified by the investigators along the Gambian coast.