Adrian Corish: 'Gambia has become a launchpad for crossings to the Canary Islands'

An interview from the Gambian coast

Adrian Corish, an activist who has lived in Gambia for 22 years, resides in a modest home on the country's coast, where he researches migration flows and supports young migrants and their families. In an interview published on 27 June 2026 by El Día and La Provincia, Corish states that "Gambia has become a launchpad for crossings to the Canary Islands".

According to his account, on 1 January a shipwreck occurred a few kilometres off the Gambian coast involving a vessel carrying more than 200 people, including men, women, children, babies and pregnant women. Corish says he contacted the emergency services, but that the Navy "arrived too late" and that the core problem was a lack of resources: insufficient equipment, a shortage of life jackets, and too long a gap between the initial alert and the arrival of rescue teams. In his account, more than 100 people died "due to a lack of resources and training".

The activist recounts that, following a press conference at which he and representatives of other organisations called on the authorities to act, the Gambian government took the complaint seriously. He says the Navy subsequently responded "more quickly" and the Immigration services began operating "more actively" in interception efforts.

A shifting route

Corish describes the situation as "a perfect storm": rising prices, families with fewer resources, and a message about a possible regularisation process in Spain that, he says, is interpreted locally as a "free pass", despite the rules, requirements and bureaucracy it actually entails. He urges the Spanish government, should it open a new regularisation process, to consider its social impact and how the message is communicated in countries with high levels of illiteracy.

The activist links the growth of the phenomenon in Gambia to tightening controls in Senegal and Morocco, whose coastlines, he argues, are "far more blocked". In his view, the shift is explained by the fact that Gambia is a poor and vulnerable country.

This assessment is shared by other sources. The organisation Corazón Naranja-Ebrima Sonko, which operates in El Hierro, reported in January 2026 a statement by Ebrima Drammeh, co-founder of the Ebrima Migrants Situation Foundation, who said Gambia has become the main departure point for irregular migrants heading to the Canary Islands "following the closure of Morocco's borders and the reinforcement of border controls in Senegal". However, Ismaila Ceesay, the country's Minister of Information, argued in December that "cayuco departures have not increased" but merely "appear more prominent due to greater media coverage".

A Frontex report accessed by Infobae noted as early as 2025 that growing numbers of migrants were departing from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia, "where surveillance is weaker", along "longer and more dangerous routes".

Arrival and mortality figures

Official figures show a decline in arrivals. According to the Ministerio del Interior, the Canary Islands received 2,276 irregular migrants by sea between January and April 2026, a drop of 78.5% compared with the same period in 2025. UNHCR noted that the majority of these individuals come from Gambia. During operations by the Mauritanian Coast Guard between 28 May and 11 June 2026, eight of the nine vessels intercepted had departed from Gambia.

Despite the fall in crossings, the NGO Caminando Fronteras warns that the route has become deadlier. According to its report covering the first five months of 2026, 1,317 people died attempting to reach Spanish shores, of whom 635 lost their lives on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. The organisation notes that for every 100 people who arrived in 2025, around 14 died, whereas in 2026 that figure has risen to 21.

Who is Corish?

According to the African Migration Advisory Centre (AMAC) website, Corish has spent more than 17 years in Gambia and founded the organisation, which focuses on reintegration programmes for returnees, support for the families of missing migrants, and training for young people. In the interview, Corish notes that the IOM receives "a great deal of money" for reintegration programmes, but criticises Gambia's health legislation as "still rooted in the colonial era", citing a mental health law that dates from the nineteenth century.