ARCHIVED - 14 boats and 184 irregular Algerian migrants on Thursday; wave of migrants continues

Boats also reached the Canary Islands and Almería

Throughout Thursday a seemingly endless succession of pateras continued to arrive on the Murcian coastline, and although Murcia appears to have become the favoured destination at the moment, pateras were reported yesterday by the Canary Island authorities, off the coast of Andalucia (in Almería 2 jet skis, each laden with 3 migrants were rescued by the coastguard as well as a patera) and in the last few days the Balearic Islands and Alicante authorities have also received boatloads of migrants.

The Government Delegate to the Murcia region reported that a total of 184 irregular migrants arrived in the region on Thursday, via 14 small boats.

All of the migrants on board were Algerians and all in a reportedly good state of health. All will be taken to the secure Escombreras Port in Cartagena which is ceded by the Port Authority for use until the end of August, for PCR testing.

The first boat was intercepted southwest of La Azohía with 21 immigrants, the second located 18 miles from Monte de las Cenizas with eleven immigrants, and a third boat in Cabo de Palos with 9 men, a woman and two minors.

Boats 4 and 5 were intercepted south of Monte de las Cenizas, with 10 and 5 immigrants, respectively, while boats 6 and 7 arrived south of the same point, with 11 and 14 immigrants respectively, and a woman among the latter , and 8, 9 and 10 also arrived in the same area with 15, 15 and 11 Algerians.

Boats 11, 12, 13 and 14 arrived moments later with 15, 10, 11 and 23 immigrants on board.

The sheer volume of the arrivals this week is now starting to become a logistical issue once again as every migrant has to be tested for Covid, those who prove to be Covid-positive are being hospitalised and their travelling companions quarantined.

After a series of worrying escapes with migrants breaking out of the facilities provided and disappearing off into residential areas without completing their quarantine, around 200 migrants are now being housed, fed and quarantined in the Hotel Cenajo in Moratalla, north-west Murcia.

They are being cared for by Cruz Roja personnel and 40 guards from the GRS Security reserve group of the Guardia Civil have been drafted in from Madrid and Sevilla to watch over them, relieving local officers of the vigilance duties, but there is limited space and should a number of these latest arrivals test positive, capacity may once again become a problem.

Once they have completed quarantine, they are free to leave as there is no mechanism currently available to Spain to repatriate them to Algeria until borders re-open. This is fuelling the drive for the thousands of would-be migrants waiting for a chance to get to Europe to do so at the moment, with the weather calm and the authorities powerless to repatriate.

During the last week the Region of Murcia has received multiple boatloads of irregular migrants from Algeria.

This year the number of migrations to Spain has been lower than normal, due prinicipally to the restrictions caused by Covid-19, but in recent weeks there has been an upsurge in activity as organised crime gangs take advantage of the opportunity to bring increased numbers of economic migrants into Spain.

The desire to seek a better life and try to find employment is understandable, as unemployment is high in Algeria, the country is suffering from severe economic problems, and opportunities, particularly for young people, are extremely limited. Political opposition against the current régime has lead to public protests and an increased level of dissatisfaction within the country, leading many particularly young people to look at Europe as potentially offering better opportunities.

The number of crossings by Algerians has increased dramatically recently; the Frontex border force said last week about crossings on the Western mediterranean route “There were around 1 500 detections of illegal border crossings in the Western Mediterranean in July, 84% more than in the previous month.Despite the rise last month, the total for the first seven months of 2020, was less than half the figure from the same period in the previous year at 6 100.

The number of Algerians, who accounted for one out of every two detections on this route this year, was seven times the figure from a year ago. “

All of the migrants intercepted recently off the Murcian coast have been Algerians.

NB: The migrants are referred to as “irregular immigrants” by the EU; the Spanish media tend to call them “sin papeles” meaning those with no paperwork entering the country illegally, others refer to them as illegal migrants. The phrase irregular migrants is used on MT in an attempt to convey that these are not refugees, but economic migrants, in this case from Algeria, entering Spain and the EU in an illegal fashion, without passports or documentation and without any legal right to enter the EU as Algeria is not an EU member and there is no migration agreement between the two countries.

Donate to Cruz Roja; Humanitarian work to ensure those arriving in Spain are treated with dignity is undertaken by the humanitarian organisation Cruz Roja. If you would like to donate, here is the link: Cruz Roja Española

Further reading

EU Action plan against Migrant Smuggling 2015/2020 Click to read

EU Directive f2008/115/EC Common standards and procedures in EU Member States for returning illegally staying third country nationals. Click to read

FRONTEX European coast guard and border control agency. This explains more about the migration issue and shows the different routes taken. Our routes here are the "Western Mediterranean" routes used principally by Moroccans And Algerians.Click Frontex