Those rescued are from countries such as Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, India, Jordan, Nepal and Venezuela.
One of the rescued irregular migrants was an adult with mobility limitations.
As part of maritime patrol and control activities on the island of San Andrés, the Colombian Navy, through the Specific Command of San Andrés and Providencia, and jointly with the Colombian Aerospace Force, detected late at night two suspicious ships that were sailing at high speed in the southwest of the island of San Andrés, and that apparently were heading to Central America.
Immediately, the Coast Guard Station of San Andrés deployed two Rapid Reaction Units, which headed towards the detection site and within a few minutes conducted the maritime interception procedure. During the inspection of the immobilized boats, 32 people of different nationalities were found by troops on board, 16 Venezuelans of whom three are minors, five Indians, four Colombians including a minor, two Haitians, a Cuban, an Ecuadorian, a Nepalese and a Jordanian.
After verifying the health status of the people, the boats and the migrants were taken to the dock of the Coast Guard Station of San Andrés where they were put into custody of the immigration authorities and, in the case of the minors, put into custody of the Colombian Institute of Family Wellbeing - ICBF.
The four crew members of the two boats, who are Nicaraguans, were arrested for the alleged crime of migrant smuggling, in accordance with article 188 of the Colombian Criminal Code and put into custody of the authority.
It should be noted that irregular migration by sea represents a high risk to the lives of the people participating in it because it is carried out without taking into account the minimum safety conditions for navigation, such as life jackets or communication equipment, it is in the same way carried out without informing routes or schedules, which greatly hinders search and rescue efforts when emergencies arise, precisely when migrants are abandoned to their fate without any consideration for their life.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
