Mauritania and Spain pledge cooperation on migration

Nouakchott: Mauritania and Spain agreed Wednesday to cooperate to manage migrant flows, during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to the...

Nouakchott: Mauritania and Spain agreed Wednesday to cooperate to manage migrant flows, during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to the West African country as his government faces an upsurge in migrant arrivals.

The two countries expressed "their commitment to work together to promote safe, orderly and regular migration" and guarantee "the fair and humane treatment of migrants", in a joint declaration.

Nearly every day, Spain's coastguard rescues a boat carrying dozens of African migrants towards the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa.

The Atlantic route is perilous due to the strong currents, with thousands of deaths and disappearances every year on overloaded, often unseaworthy boats.

Sanchez arrived in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott on Tuesday, marking the start of a three-day trip that also takes in The Gambia and Senegal -- three key countries in the migration crisis.