Many Nigerian women who reach Spain through irregular routes are forced into prostitution to repay debts to trafficking networks that financed their journeys,
International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Public Policy, FIAP Deputy Team Lead Javier Leon said.
Leon also said the victims often refuse to cooperate with law enforcement due to threats against relatives in Nigeria.
According to him, efforts to dismantle trafficking rings are frequently hampered by victims’ lack of trust in authorities.
He argued that expanding legal migration pathways would reduce migrants’ dependence on smugglers and traffickers.
He said the move would also help European countries address labour shortages.
He said about 40,000 migrants arrived on the islands last year but estimated that thousands more may have died attempting the journey.
According to him, Spanish authorities receive migrants at ports, where police and Red Cross personnel conduct health screenings and initial interviews.
Migrants are then transferred to reception facilities for identification procedures before being moved to centres on mainland Spain, he said.
He also said migrants are generally not detained beyond an initial screening period and are subsequently free to move within Spain and other European Union countries.
He acknowledged that deportations remain difficult, partly because some migrants arrive without identification documents or provide false nationalities. He said origin countries do not always recognise returnees as their citizens, creating obstacles for repatriation efforts.
“It’s not easy to deport them,” he said, adding that destination and origin countries must work together on reintegration programmes for returnees.
Leon also faulted allegations that European authorities mistreat deportees before returning them to their home countries, describing such claims as false and saying migrants facing removal are protected by legal and medical safeguards.
He also pointed to instability in transit countries such as Niger and Libya as factors reshaping migration patterns, with some migrants increasingly seeking opportunities in the Middle East and Gulf states instead of Europe.
He added: “Legal migration is part of the solution,” Leon said. “If there are safe and regulated pathways, fewer people will risk their lives on dangerous routes.”
