The 49 people who arrived as stowaways on a tugboat to the shores of Lanzarote are to be disembarked at the Port of Arrecife this Friday for “humanitarian reasons.” This has been confirmed by sources from the Delegation of the Government to La Voz.
Initially, these same sources indicated that the vessel had been asked for abond of one million euros, for maintenance, accommodation, and return tickets to disembark on the island, and that its owner had decided to return to Dakar, the capital of Senegal, to disembark the migrants to avoid facing this financial charge.
However, they will ultimately be able to set foot on Spanish soil, “under the responsibility of the shipping agent.” So far, it has not been disclosed whether the occupants have expressed their intention to apply for asylum or if they will do so once they reach port.
The vessel is waiting 12 nautical miles from the island, that is, outside the territorial waters of Lanzarote, awaiting authorisation from Maritime Captaincy to enter the port.
The crew stated that they realised halfway through the navigation, after leaving the port of Dakar, that they had almost fifty people on board and alerted the authorities.
