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Edition 283
www.thecourier.es
Friday 5th August 2016
BRAVE AND DETERMINED Refugees In Perilous Risk
BY ALEX TRELINSKI
C
ruz Roja, Guardia Civil, and coastguard teams rescued a total of 130 wouldbe migrants entering Spain's shores last Sunday, including a number trying to land in Alicante Province. Tabarca Island off the coast of Santa Pola and Alicante was a target for the overcrowded dinghies that were also spotted near Alborán Island, exactly halfway between Morocco and Almería, with rescues taking place off the shores of Carboneras (Almería province) and Cartagena.
10 migrants were initially spotted some nine miles off Tabarca on Sunday afternoon, all of whom were said to be adult men of Algerian nationality and who claimed another 12 were on their way in a boat behind them, which was indeed the case. The first group of 10 were taken to Alicante and given warm, dry clothing, fluids and food, and checked out by first-aiders. The men had been travelling for three days without food, yet appeared to be in good health after being examined by the Cruz Roja workers, though some were
dehydrated, while one migrant was suffering high blood pressure and palpitations. This is the first time this year that migrants have been intercepted in Alicante Province. 15 of the 22 appeared before an Alicante court on Tuesday, pending expulsion from Spain, but the remaining seven, as children, were being looked after at a shelter. Coastguard authorities were tipped off in the early hours of Sunday about a craft on its way north from the Moroccan city of Nador, and they were found 21 miles off the shores of Alborán Island. A total of 34 of them - including six women and a child were packed onto one motorboat. Not far behind them, a boat carrying 25 Algerians was traced 50 miles south of
Alborán Island at around 5.00 am on Sunday. Sometime around noon, a craft carrying 30 sub-Saharan Africans, including three women and two babies under a year old, was spotted 60 miles south of Cartagena. The occupants were taken there for first aid, blankets, food and drink. All 130 found in one day were said to be in good health, and are mostly of north African origin, although a handful are from subSaharan Africa. It is part of the now-annual ritual where the sea conditions are seen to be the best to attempt a still extremely dangerous crossing. Previous years have seen landings off the Mar Menor, as well as at Santa Pola, Torrevieja, Cabo Roig, and Torre de la Horadada.
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