Senegal

El Hierro asks Spanish government for help after more than 3,300 people arrived on boats since start of November.

Authorities of El Hierro, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, have declared an emergency and asked the government in Madrid for help after a surge in migrants and refugees arriving on boats.

“We are very concerned… by this sharp increase in arrivals,” Alpidio Armas, head of the governing council for El Hierro, one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants and refugees from West Africa, told Spanish television on Saturday.

“This is precisely what has led us to declare an emergency in order to ensure a framework of cooperation with higher-level institutions.”

More than 3,300 people have arrived on the island in about 30 boats since the start of November, according to local authorities. El Hierro has about 11,400 residents.

Officials are seeking temporary accommodation for the new arrivals, while conditions at the island’s hospital have become “undesirable”, Armas said.

The situation is “absolutely unsustainable”, the Reuters news agency quoted Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, as saying on Friday.

Maritime rescue services rescued 3,261 migrants and refugees off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first six days of November.

Clavijo said the numbers were approaching the record levels seen in 2024, and on some days, the current pace was even higher.

Buses have been diverted to migration operations, and medical staff have been brought in from other islands, he said.

Deadly route

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.

Two people were found dead on a boat heading for the Canaries this week, and five others are believed to have died during the voyage, according to the AFP news agency, citing survivor accounts.

At least nine migrants or refugees have died off the islands in recent weeks.

Arrivals reached a record of more than 46,000 in 2024, then fell sharply due to tighter surveillance and greater cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

Between January and October, 13,327 irregular migrants and refugees arrived by sea, 5.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year, according to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.

Patrols off Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have pushed departures further south, from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, making crossings longer.

Senegalese police said on Saturday that they intercepted 142 migrants, including women and young children, off Dakar.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce its verdict on the title after it was awarded to Morocco by CAF.

A decision on Senegal’s appeal ‌‌after being stripped of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations title will be made ⁠⁠at the end of ⁠⁠November, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed.

“This process will require several weeks, with the CAS Award expected at the end of November 2026,” the court said in a statement on Monday.

Senegal are contesting the decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to declare Morocco champions, despite Senegal beating the hosts ⁠⁠1-0 after extra time in January’s final in Rabat. Their arguments, plus those of Morocco and CAF, were heard by CAS in Lausanne on October 8.

At the time, CAS said ⁠⁠it expected a decision within days but has now decided to issue a complete ruling, including legal grounds, known as a CAS Award.

Senegal walked off the pitch for 14 minutes ‌‌after a penalty was awarded against them late in regulation time, with several players returning to the dressing room in protest before they resumed play.

Morocco missed the spot kick, sending the match into extra time, where Senegal scored the winner to secure victory.

However, they were stripped of the title two months later after CAF’s Appeal Board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match by walking off the pitch, overturning the result and awarding a 3-0 victory to ⁠⁠Morocco.

Senegal quickly followed with an appeal to CAS, ⁠⁠which was lodged on March 25 but heard some six months later. The basis of their arguments is that the referee’s decision is final and he allowed the match to be completed.

“I know it’s a long wait for the fans, ⁠ ⁠a few months after the final between Senegal and Morocco,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said outside the hearing earlier this month.

“The facts are set, are clear and the discussions will be on some procedural issues and legal aspects,” he added.

The CAS panel is presided over by French sports law expert Gerald Simon, with the assistance of Italian international law ‌‌professor Luigi Fumagalli and Hamburg-based lawyer and professor of law at the University of Zurich, Ulrich Haas.

CAS decisions are called awards and hold the same value as a national court judgement. CAS awards may be enforced by sports federations or state courts, depending on the circumstances.