Maritime police detained 11 North African migrants who were spotted arriving at the region’s shores in a rickety wooden boat near Olhão in the early hours of this Wednesday morning (January 29).
SIC TV reports that the migrants, aged between 21 and 30, were trying to dock somewhere between the Armona and Culatra Islands when they were spotted by fishermen, who alerted authorities.
Three of the migrants complained about “abdominal pains” when they were intercepted by police and were taken to Faro Hospital. One of them also had sustained injuries to one of his legs.
The group is believed to have spent at least four or five days at sea after departing from El Jadida, the same Moroccan town that another group of migrants that arrived in the Algarve departed from in December (click here).
Observador reports that the young men did not offer resistance although there were “communication issues” when they were intercepted. They were travelling in a wobbly 15 horsepower wooden boat with waterproof coats, fuel and food, it adds.
According to Correio da Manhã, the young men are now in the custody of Portugal’s border authorities (SEF).
It remains to be seen whether they will be offered asylum as happened with the group that arrived at the region’s shores last month.
Photo: AMP
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