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Migrants Turn to Mauritania As New EU Transit Route

More than 12, 000 migrants from Africa disembarked on the Spanish archipelago between January and March this year, according to reports. That number represents a stark increase from around 2000 that arrived in the Canary Islands about the same time last year. Over 80% of the boats that carried the migrants departed from Mauritania or "transited through its waters".

Migrants from the Central Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea are said to be increasingly picking Mauritania's northwestern city of Nouadhibou to embark on their risky journey, "making it a migratory crossroads and transit city".

To help combat the problem, the EU in April granted U.S.$226 million in aid to Mauritania, part of which will be used against illegal immigration to Europe.

InFocus

Islam Alatrash/DW

Libyan authorities trained and funded by the EU to police migration (File photo)

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