“There’s no work. This is really all I’ve got,” says one of the Senegalese men selling fake brand name sunglasses on the sea wall of the northern Spanish city of Gijón. Fake Lacoste T-shirts cost 15 euros and equally fake Ray Ban sunglasses cost ten. He’s been in Spain for three years now and every day has to keep one step ahead of the police. Every so often, they pop up out of nowhere.

 

But even so, a little later he’s still in business 20 metres further on. Not that the tourists have much interest in imitation bags and sunglasses. “Everything’s quiet,” the young man mutters.

 

There are far fewer Africans with their rugs full of merchandise on the sea wall than in previous summers. Just as in the rest of the country, it’s noticeable that fewer immigrants are making the illegal crossing to seek their fortune in Spain than two years ago. According to Eurodac, the European database that stores fingerprints from asylum proceedings, there’s been a sharp decline.

 

The southern European countries of Italy and Spain are seeing this most clearly. Yet Eurodac offers other explanations for the decline in both countries than the economic crisis. In Italy, it’s the result of the 2009 agreement between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. This permits the Italian coast guard to ship any immigrants they pick up straight back to Libya.

 

In 2009, 7300 Africans entered Italy: far fewer than the approximately 32,000 in 2008. The Human Rights Watch organisation has called Italy’s mandate to dump immigrants and asylum seekers in Libya, “A squalid agreement.”

 

Spain has also seen fewer refugee boats along its south coast. That’s particularly so in the Canary Islands, which in previous years acted as a springboard to Europe for many Africans. In 2006, in one dramatic year, 32,000 Africans arrived on the islands’ shores. In 2009, that number dropped to 8000.

 

The reason for this, says Eurodac, is the cooperation between Spain and several African countries. The Spaniards are actively cooperating with police forces in, to name just three, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco. In addition, European naval vessels are patrolling the region while satellites are increasingly being used to track vessels carrying immigrants.

 

“For the last 18 months we’ve been seeing fewer people coming in,” says Covandonga Carreño, who runs a shelter for asylum seekers in Gijón. “That applies not just to people from Africa, but also from South America and Eastern Europe. And I no longer hear immigrants telling each other fairy tales about the economic situation in the European Union. Those stories worked like a magnet.”

 

“The Africans are now telling their families how difficult it is to obtain papers and to find work, and how tight the checks have become.” Carreño says that’s led to the refugee boats getting expensive. In Senegal, the smugglers now charge at least 900 euros for each person wanting to cross. “That means not just a highly dangerous journey but also an enormous burden of debt.”

 

Abdoulaye from Senegal has been living in the shelter in Gijón for three years now. He has papers, but no steady work.

 

“I can see that it’s difficult everywhere. In Spain, Italy, the Netherlands: the crisis is everywhere. I spoke to my brother in Senegal a while ago. He wanted to make the journey over by boat. But I urged him NOT to come.” He shakes his head. “Man… So many Africans have been drowned.”