Fatou Faye was not the first person to head for Spain from her run-down corner of Dakar, the Senegalese capital. Half a dozen friends and relatives left before her, squeezing into wooden fishing boats and wagering their lives on the high seas for the chance of a future in Europe. “Some succeeded”, Faye said flatly. “Some were sent back. Some drowned.”
But there was no dangerous sea voyage for Faye, a 32-year-old mother of two who came to Spain under circumstances that thousands of her compatriots can only dream of: on a plane, with a visa and a job that pays five times what she earned back home.
Faye is one of the first Senegalese workers to be hired under a Spanish labour plan that offers legal passage and a one-year work permit to some with the idea that by raising the possibility of reaching Spain legally, young Africans will be dissuaded from throwing themselves on the mercy of the Atlantic.
The programme, promoted by the Spanish and Senegalese governments, aims to bring hundreds of workers to Spain this year with renewable one-year visas and jobs. Workers on one-year permits may have their contracts extended, at which point they have the right to bring over their immediate family. Ultimately, officials here say, the plan is to bring in thousands of immigrants through the programme.
As Europe struggles to cope with an unstinting flow of desperate migrants to its southern shores, Spain’s African initiative, a blend of incentives and punishments, has won praise for the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Several companies are in the process of hiring people in Dakar to come to work in Spain for a year, potentially more. Those companies include McDonald’s; Carrefour, a French retailer; and Vips, a Spanish convenience store chain. “It’s advanced thinking in terms of migration policy,” Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative for migration, said. “It’s trailblazing.” Supporters of the programme say they are under no illusion that it will fix Europe’s migration problem.
A surge in sub-Saharan migration last year to the Canary Islands, a Spanish possession that many Africans try to use as a gateway to Europe, prompted Spain to toughen its stance on immigration and, along with the rest of Europe, extend the cordon around its shores with international patrols.
This year, the number of arrivals has fallen steeply: About 6,000 migrants landed in the Canaries in the first seven months, compared with 13,000 in the same period of 2006. Spanish officials and emergency workers based in the Canaries attributed the decline to better maritime surveillance and cooperation from countries like Senegal, as well as rougher seas.
Zapatero’s immigration policy has not always drawn applause. Spain’s decision to legalise 6,00,000 immigrants in 2005 infuriated some European partners, who believe it encouraged a flood of migrants. As Europe closes its door to illegal immigrants, Spain is opening a small window of possibility. Sutherland said that Spain’s approach could serve as an example for Europe.
NYT