Spain and Senegal have renewed a bi-lateral agreement permitting Frontex to operate from a base in Dakar for another year.
[migrantsatsea.wordpress.com] The Frontex mission in Senegal currently consists of two Spanish Guardia Civil patrol boats, a Spanish National Police helicopter, and a private airplane leased by the Spanish Defence Ministry. One Frontex patrol boat also operates from Nuadibú, Mauritania.
Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said that France and Italy will soon be deploying additional assets and personnel to the Frontex mission in Senegal consisting of a ship and plane from Italy and a French security force team. Rubalcaba stated that this new assistance demonstrates that “Spain is not alone” in the fight against the mafias responsible for the illegal boat arrivals to the coast this country. (“España no está sola” en la lucha contra las mafias responsables de las llegadas de embarcaciones irregulares a las costas de este país.)
Senegalese Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom, said that so far this year a total of 101 canoes from the coast of Senegal with 450 people aboard have been identified by the patrols. In 2006, the figures were 901 boats, with 35,490 irregular migrants.
