ARCHIVED - 37 irregular migrants intercepted off Cartagena coast; 3 Covid positive

Three boats were intercepted out at sea

Following the arrival of a “patera” on the beach of El Portús in Cartagena on Wednesday and the expectation that further boats would take advantage of the calm conditions to make the journey from Algeria to Spain, the SIVE vigilance service has been scanning the sea using air patrols, the radar vigilance system and sea patrols in an attempt to detect small boats heading towards Spain at speed; no mean task given the volume of small boats which are visible sailing the same waters during the peak of the holiday season.

On Wednesday morning three small pateras were detected by the Río Segura patrol vessel, operated by the Spanish Navy, heading towards the beaches of Cartagena, with 37 irregular migrants on board, containing 11, 12 and 14 passengers respectively.

The boats were intercepted by the 'Salvamar Mimosa' search and rescue vessel, belonging to the Spanish Government and operated by the Guardia Civíl, which picked up the migrants and took them into Cartagena.

Once on land they are the competence of the Policia Nacional and were taken to the installations of the Cruz Roja in the Escombreras for covid testing; three of the passengers tested positive for Covid and were taken to the Santa Lucia hospital for treatment, bringing the total of irregular migrants who have reached Murcia with Covid-19 to ten this week. 23 passengers who had travelled in the same boats were put into quarantine in the Hotel El Cenajo in Moratalla for 14 days. The remaining 11 were put into a humanitarian aid programme run by the Ministry of Migration, the Cruz Roja and Accem where they will be given basic information before being released as Spain is currently unable to repatriate them due to the closure of Algerian borders through the covid pandemic.

An estimated 20 passengers who travelled on the patera which landed on El Portús beach on Tuesday have yet to be located,

Images Cruz Roja humanitarian aid. The El Cenajo in Moratalla where the new arrivals are being quarantined and the Escombreras port area where Cruz Roja care for the migrants picked up at sea and intercepted on arrival in order to ensure that Covid tests are undertaken.
 

Further background information:

Across the weekend of 24th-26th August more than 500 migrants arrived in dozens of small boats, and at least 200 more reached the coastlines of neighbouring Almería and Alicante at the same time; last weekend 130 more reached Murcia, three of them requiring air rescue from the Monte de las Cenizas in Cartagena. Other boats reached neighbouring regions, the same as in July, the idea of the organised criminal gangs who arrange these migrations being that a large number of boats spaced along the coastline, spreads coastguard resources thin and the chances of being detained are slimmer.

The migrants are not refugees, but are “economic migrants” from Algeria. Over 11,000 economic migrants have made the journey to Spain this year according to the latest Interior Ministry statistics.

Read the article; Irregular migrants escape again as Spain uses diplomatic tools to fight the problem at source” for more information about the way in which Spain is attempting to tackle the ongoing problem of irregular migration.