The Minister of the Interior has received his Senegalese counterpart, who has also met in Madrid with the Secretary of State for Security, the Director General of Police, the Director of the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO) and commanders of the Civil Guard.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, meets with the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Senegal, The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, meets with the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Senegal, Jean-Baptiste Tine, at the Ministry’s headquarters.
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Spain and Senegal confirm in Madrid the ‘solidity’ of their cooperation on migration issues
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has received his Senegalese counterpart, the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, General Jean-Baptiste Tine, in Madrid, and thanked him for the ‘solidity and strength’ of the bilateral relationship in the area of migration, which he described as ‘one of the best examples of cooperation in our environment’.
‘We are aware of the efforts in the fight against irregular immigration that Senegal makes daily at its borders, as well as at sea,’ said Grande-Marlaska during the meeting. The minister stressed the importance of this ‘key’ work to protect the lives of migrants in vulnerable situations and to fight against human trafficking networks. ‘You can continue to count on Spain to prevent the deaths at sea of Senegalese youth,’ he added.
The State Security Forces and Corps have been deployed in Senegal for almost two decades, in cooperation with local security forces, to prevent irregular departures from its coasts, as well as to investigate criminal networks of irregular immigration and to provide training and technical advice.
Currently, this deployment is made up of 33 civil guards and 3 national police officers who carry out joint patrols, with the support of four boats, a helicopter and 13 all-terrain vehicles. A plane based at Dakar airport and a Guardia Civil ocean-going vessel periodically join the deployment.
The joint preventive surveillance work has led to an increase in the number of irregular departures prevented at source, from 700 interceptions in 2022 to 10,000 in 2024.
In addition, two National Police officers are participating in the teams integrated in the Joint Operational Partnership and the Joint Operational Partnerships Network, two projects funded by the European Union and aimed at exchanging information and designing strategies for the fight against migrant smuggling together with Senegalese security forces.
The two ministers reaffirmed their willingness to move forward in the joint fight against transnational organised crime, as set out in the Declaration of Intent signed in August 2024 in Dakar, on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to Senegal.
‘Both in the framework of the commitments made as signatories to the Niamey Declaration, to fight resolutely against human smuggling and trafficking, and in the promotion of international security in the International Security Alliance, Spain and Senegal are called upon to play a pre-eminent role in promoting global security’, stressed Grande-Marlaska.
During his visit to Madrid, which began on Thursday, the Senegalese minister also met with the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez; the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo; the head of the Border and Maritime Police Command, Lieutenant General Manuel Navarrete; and the Director of the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO), Javier Marín.
During his visit to Madrid, which began on Thursday, the Senegalese minister also met with the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez; the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo; the head of the Border and Maritime Police Command, Lieutenant General Manuel Navarrete; and the Director of the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO), Javier Marín.