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| - Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called for urgent change to overwhelmed migrant services in Spain's Canary Islands, where more than 2,000 people arrived at the weekend. Arguineguin port on Gran Canaria "is overwhelmed and reports say 'return orders' are being processed without any legal assistance," London-based Amnesty said in a statement. "Spanish authorities should immediately alleviate overcrowded and unsanitary conditions on the Arguineguin pier," HRW said in a separate statement. Judith Sunderland, HRW's acting deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, said she had visited the port on November 7 -- and that numbers had more than doubled since then. "What I saw.. was a row of crowded tents where people are held for days on end, sleeping on the ground, 30 or 40 people sharing a portable toilet," she said. "I cannot imagine the situation now with over double the people.. these conditions do not respect people's dignity or basic rights, nor do they reflect well on Spain." A spokeswoman for the regional government said they were trying to relocate the migrants to better facilities although there were still around 1,800 people at the port. On Saturday alone, more than 1,400 people arrived on the Spanish archipelago, the highest-ever number. That one-day figure even outpaced arrivals during the 2006 crisis when a total of 30,000 people reached the islands off the northwestern coast of Africa. Last week, Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the temporary encampment at Arguineguin port, which was initially set up to process arrivals and carry out virus tests, would be closed "in the coming weeks" and the migrants relocated to "military sites" in Las Palmas, the island's capital. The announcement came as he visited the island with the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, who called for Spain to step up the repatriation of any migrants who do not qualify for refugee status. Local press reports cited by Amnesty and HRW said the authorities were reportedly processing deportations without offering legal assistance to the migrants -- a move denied by the Spanish interior ministry. "This is a serious irregularity which must be ended immediately," said Amnesty's Spain director Esteban Beltran. There has been a surge in migrant arrivals in the Canary Islands in recent months after the EU reached border control agreements with Morocco, Libya and Turkey At its closest point, the island chain lies 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of North Africa, and between January and October this year, more than 11,000 migrants made the journey in rickety boats, interior ministry figures show. The number is more than seven times higher than the same period in 2019. dbh/hmw/tgb
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