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ARCHIVED - Break-outs and further boatloads; irregular migrants continue challenging efforts to contain Covid
Over 40 of the economic migrants who have reached the Murcian coastline in pateras during the last 10 days have tested positive for Covid and the authorities are struggling to enforce a 14 day quarantine for their travelling companions.
During the last week there have been several break-outs from areas in which the irregular migrants who reached the Murcian coastline just over a week ago are being quarantined as well as further boats arriving, some of them with Covid-positive passengers on board.
Mediterranean nations with sea borders are accustomed to migrants attempting to enter Europe by sea illegally and a great deal of resource is dedicated to patrolling the coastline in search of small boats trying to land undetected and detaining their occupants.
The situation differs considerably between European nations; Italy and Greece have been the subject of significant media coverage over the years in relation to refugees landing on their shores, but in Spain the “pateras” which reach the coast come principally from the African Continent, with Algeria and Morocco the exit points for “economic migrants” seeking work in Europe.
Migrants generally travel to Europe using organised “mafias” or criminal organisations which charge a significant sum for organising the crossing and providing contacts in Europe. “Fixers” help to find jobs and there are known stopping-off points for those travelling up through Europe, many journeys involving the collaboration of friends or contacts who have previously completed the journey themselves.
The “economic migrants” are principally young males, although sometimes they are followed by women and children joining family members established in Europe.
The migrants are generally referred to as being “irregular migrants” or “illegal immigrants” principally because the majority arriving in Spain are from Algeria, Morocco or the sub-Saharan areas, none of which have residency agreements with EU nations. These migrants choose an illegal entry route into Spain and have no legal right to either work or settle here, so these descriptions are not intended to be a racial slur on the individuals concerned or demean them as human beings; they are simply terms used to broadly refer to people who choose to migrate for economic reasons, rather than migrating as refugees and do so through illegal means.
Migrants tend to choose either the shorter crossings or those which make their overland journey shorter; the shorter sea crossings are from Morocco to the various provinces of Andalucía, from Algeria to Andalucía, the Valencia region and the Murcia Region, or the longer routes run from Algeria to the Balearic or Algeria to the Canary Islands.
All those intercepted are brought into Spanish ports, their medical condition assessed and the migrants taken to migrant transit centres(CIE) where they are temporarily held whilst attempts are made to repatriate them to their country of origin; 45 days is the maximum time permitted for this process, after which, if they cannot be repatriated, the Spanish government is obliged to release them onto Spanish soil. On average, only 36% of repatriation cases are successful.
The migrants are not given residency rights and are not allowed to work legally, which means that some are exploited attempting to earn money illegally, and others continue their journey on to other European countries, such as France or Belgium where there are large established communities of migrants. On Friday the UK Government requested that the French Government make more of an effort to stem the flow of small boats now crossing the Channel from France to enter the UK via one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, the final stage of the journey for some of those crossing from Africa into Spain.
The onset of the Covid crisis initially halted the flow of migrants, as both Algeria and Morocco closed their own external borders, but whilst this has the effect of limiting the number of migrants from entering via the African Continent, it also prevents the Spanish authorities from repatriating migrants who have successfully reached Spain.
This is because the migrant transit centres which are normally used to house irregular migrants during the 45 day period in which the Spanish Government tries to repatriate them to their country of origin, are temporarily closed. This in turn, is due to the Algerian and Moroccan borders being closed, making the repatriation of these migrants impossible.
Some migrants are entering Spain with Covid
There are believed to be thousands of would-be migrants waiting for their chance to make the journey across into Europe, living in hidden encampments, and these have not escaped the Covid crisis which has engulfed the world, so recently, a number of the migrants reaching Spanish soil are testing Covid positive.
The authorities are concerned to stop the spread of Covid, and as we know that this is a highly contagious virus, all migrants arriving in Spain are tested immediately for Covid. Should one person from a boat test positive, they are hospitalised and the remaining occupants of the boat put into a 14 day quarantine.
At the moment any migrants arriving in boats in which there are no positive cases are released as the Spanish government cannot hold them legally once they have tested negative and been given a medical check-over.
The problem facing the authorities here in Murcia is where to temporarily house such large numbers of migrants and who should be responsible for them; the regional government or the national Government, and this has caused significant argument in the Murcia Region recently following the arrival of 454 migrants in 31 boats on the 27th July.
Originally the migrants were temporarily located in tents within the Escombreras docks of the Port Authority in Cartagena. However, following the escape of 100 of those who were being quarantined due to having been in boats with the 35 migrants who tested positive for Covid, the migrants were split up and re-located in various locations; amongst them the sports pavilion, the pabellón de Cabezo Beaza in Cartagena. 100 more were taken to the Hotel Cenajo in Moratalla in north-west Murcia which is currently closed to the public following the refusal of other local councils to house them. Mazarrón, which was the scene of several escapes during lockdown when a residencia was turned over to home "sin techos", those with no fixed address, said it would go "on the warpath" if forced to take in any of these migrants. Torre Pacheco also refused to house them in the IFEPA showground.
In the early hours of 1st August 59 of the migrants forced a rear door and escaped from the sports centre. 17 were intercepted during the day.
The Vice-Mayoress of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, has been highly critical of the situation, calling it unsustainable. The council was not notified until the following morning of the escape and put its own Policia Local onto the streets to search for the missing migrants. Seven of them were found in the bus station in Cartagena, a busy travel hub.
Meanwhile, some of the Covid positive patients in the Santa Lucía hospital in Cartagena became impatient and attempted to break out, damaging furniture and fixtures. The police attended the call-out and decided not to press any charges.
On Sunday evening eight further migrants managed to break out of the sports pavilion by climbing into the air conditioner conduits. None of them have yet been re-captured.
Obviously the authorities are pre-occupied by this situation, as all of those who escaped have had close contact with Covid-positives and need to complete the 14 day quarantine period before being released to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.
Meanwhile….further boats arrive.
On Friday evening and in the early hours of Saturday morning one boat containing 11 occupants reached Escombreras, a second containing 8 occupants arrived in Monte de las Cenizas, and a third was intercepted to the south of Cabo de Palos with seven males on board. All of them were Algerians.
By the early hours of Saturday morning the total had risen to 53 migrants in 5 boats. Four of the arrivals in the first three boats tested positive for Covid.
It must be stressed that this is not specifically a Murcian problem and the arrival of Covid-positive irregular migrants is occurring right along the Spanish coast and on both the Balearic and Canary Islands.
Donate to Cruz Roja; Humanitarian work to ensure those arriving in Spain are treated with dignity is undertaken by the humanitarian organisation Cruz Roja. If you would like to donate, here is the link: Cruz Roja Española
Further reading
EU Action plan against Migrant Smuggling 2015/2020 Click to read
EU Directive f2008/115/EC Common standards and procedures in EU Member States for returning illegally staying third country nationals. Click to read
FRONTEX european coast guard and border control agency. This explains more about the migration issue and shows the different routes taken. Our routes here are the "Western Mediterranean" routes used principally by Moroccans And Algerians.Click Frontex