Date Published: 13/05/2021
ARCHIVED - Two men accused of skippering migrant boat to Almeria face 7 years in prison
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Irregular migrants pay up to €2,000 per person for their transport from North Africa to Almeria or other areas of the Spanish coastline
As the number of irregular migrants trying to make their way into Spain from Africa continues to create a problem for the authorities working to stop the practice of human trafficking, two men are standing trial in Almeria accused of being in charge of a boat of 17 people who travelled to Spain in May last year.
An Algerian man and a Moroccan man face seven years in prison after prosecutors claimed that the pair picked up a group of 15 migrants from a beach in Oran in Algeria, before giving them instructions to load fuel on board as well as what to say to the authorities if the boat was stopped.
A court heard that the boat set off at around 7.30 pm for Spain with one of the accused skippering the boat while the other was in charge of navigating. Prosecutors said the boat ran out of fuel however, leaving those on board to try to bail out water due to the poor condition of the boat and rough seas before the Guardia Civil finally found the vessel around 13 nautical miles from Mesa Roldan, Almeria almost 24 hours later.
The man accused of skippering the boat admits being in charge of piloting it, but says that was only to reduce the amount he paid for his crossing to €500 and because he had some experience of navigating after growing up by the sea.
He also claims he was trying to reach his family in France and denies giving any instructions to the other migrants on board or that the boat was in poor condition. The man says that those on board were wearing lifejackets at all times and that the boat only had to be bailed out because the Guardia Civil damaged the vessel.
The other suspect backs up this version of events and claims he had to pay €2,500 for his trip.
Police have been cracking down on the organised criminal gangs who employ ex-fishermen to pilot the boats across to Spain, usually paying the skippers in excess of €2,000 for a single journey. Passengers are normally warned against identifying the skipper when the boats are intercepted by the authorities, who will attempt to deport those who can clearly be proven to have come from a specific country; the skippers allow themselves to be amongst those deported so that they can make another trip, earning more for the journey even taking the period of detention into consideration, than they would as fishermen during this whole period.
Police however, have got wise to this ruse and are now bringing criminal charges against them, with appropriate prison sentences.
Image: Cruz Roja (Archive)