Teen Gambian migrant finds support and a father figure in Canary Islands

By Joan Faus and Horaci Garcia

FRONTERA, Spain (Reuters) - Gambian teenager Omar Kebbeh has a roof over his head on the Spanish island of El Hierro and enough to eat thanks to a man he calls his Spanish father, after a close brush with becoming homeless as some other young migrants do.

The Canary Islands archipelago is struggling to absorb a surge of irregular migrants arriving in crammed, open-topped boats from West Africa seeking better opportunities in Europe.

Some 19,700 irregular migrants have arrived so far this year in El Hierro, which has a population of 11,400.

Youths under 18 stay at shelters and attend school. But once they reach that age, they have to find other accommodation, and some end up sleeping rough on the streets if the paperwork needed for them to live and work in Spain is delayed.

"If I didn't have a family, how would I live? I would be in the street begging," Kebbeh, 18, told Reuters, sitting in his own room, created for him in a house used by local civil protection volunteers in the small town of Frontera.

Kebbeh, who made a risky, six-day boat journey from Senegal with 125 others last year, moved to the house in February after unexpectedly losing his previous housing arrangement just as his time at the shelter had come to an end.

Terrified, he contacted Francis Mendoza, head of civil protection volunteers and founder of a charity helping migrants, who refurbished part of the station house to host Kebbeh.

Dealing closely with migrants as a first-aid assistant at the port was a personal turning point for the 49-year-old, who works at a local hardware store.

"It has changed my life and perception of things," he said, lamenting that many of his compatriots are too "materialistic".

"I saw how they would arrive without anything. It impacted me a lot and I ended up losing 36 kg (79 lb)," said Mendoza.

His 20-year-old daughter has befriended Kebbeh, who is learning Spanish and English and wants to become an electric engineer and bring his Gambian family to Spain.

His room is basic, with a bed and several hoodie sweaters hanging on a wall, but it's a home.

"I am so grateful there are still good people around the world," Kebbeh said.

Spain's leftist government last week vowed to streamline the legalisation process for hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants.

(Reporting by Joan Faus and Horaci Garcia, additional reporting by David Latona; editing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson)