STORY: Spanish expert calls for more int'l cooperation to tackle irregular migration
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 13, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 14, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:05
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JAVIER VAZQUEZ, Associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona
2. various of the arrival of migrants in the Canary Islands
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JAVIER VAZQUEZ, Associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona

STORYLINE:

Javier Vazquez, a Spanish expert on migration, said Monday that more international cooperation is needed to address irregular migration.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JAVIER VAZQUEZ, Associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona
"More work should be done in the countries of origin from which the immigrants come, not only in terms of international cooperation but also in carrying out more initiatives which already exist, such as hiring people in the country of origin. In general, they are young people who are very enterprising and who want to work and who are healthy enough to work hard and look for opportunities, and for better or worse they tend to find opportunities that are generally better than what they might expect to find in their countries of origin."

A record 46,843 migrants arrived by boat in Spain's Canary Islands during 2024. This was up 17 percent from 2023.

Caminando Fronteras, a group that investigates cases of migrants disappearing at sea while journeying to Spain, reported that 10,457 people lost their lives at sea in 2024. This amounts to an average of nearly 30 deaths per day. The majority of these deceased migrants were en route to the Canary Islands.

Spain's Ministry of Interior revealed this month that 63,970 irregular migrants entered the country in 2024, just below 2018's historic high of 64,298 arrivals.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JAVIER VAZQUEZ, Associate professor of economics at the University of Barcelona
"We don't know if this year there will be another 64,000, or 70,000, or 50,000, but people will continue coming. I haven't yet looked at the exact numbers, but I think that without doubt in these first few days of 2025, more irregular immigrants will have already arrived. The majority of these immigrants come from countries that are in situations of internal war or great political instability and in economic conditions that are very much inferior to what the standard of living or welfare conditions are in a country such as Spain."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)