Influx of Migrant Boats on Alicante Coast: Four in One Week

The stable weather and calm seas typical of early summer have led to a surge of migrant boats towards the coast of Alicante province: up to four vessels carrying 59 people have been rescued since June 18 by Maritime Rescue and assisted by the Red Cross.

The last two were located in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday, according to humanitarian organization sources. Up to 32 people, nine of them minors, were on board. All were male, except for one woman.

The Red Cross medical team has treated 13 people for various injuries, mainly burns. This was not the first case where they had to act, as hospital transfers were made in the previous precarious vessel.

It was not the worst case. In the boat that Maritime Rescue intercepted last Wednesday, June 18, with 20 migrants on board, they reported being adrift for 14 days and that during the journey, five people lost their lives and had to be thrown into the sea.

In the second boat that arrived in the province of Alicante, 48 hours later, seven migrants were on the precarious vessel, including two minors, all of them male and of sub-Saharan origin. They arrived in good health.

Each time a precarious vessel arrives, the Red Cross activates the Immediate Response Teams for Humanitarian Assistance to Immigrants on the Coast (ERIE AHIC).

Volunteers from the NGO provide socio-sanitary support to migrants who are transferred to the Alicante port.