GENOA, Italy – More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World, this birthplace of his and other European ports of call are experiencing a reverse migration under globalization.
And like Columbus, sometimes the immigrants to these shores are arriving in boats.
It is in former Queen Isabella’s Spain where African immigration has recently reached a critical point.
For the past few weeks, a record number of boatloads of Africans have struck out for the Canary Islands, an outpost of Spain 70 miles from the West African coast.
Madrid has been diplomatic about the matter, according to news reports, establishing new embassies in African nations and seeking cooperation from Senegal and other West African nations in policing the African coastal waterway.
Under Spanish law, the authorities must set free in mainland Spain any immigrants they are not able to repatriate back to Africa from the Canary Islands.
The International Herald Tribune said Senegal is willing to help with deportation arrangements with Spain “in return for economic assistance, such as help in expanding its irrigation systems to create more agricultural jobs, which would entice more of its workers to stay home.”
The Third Person 