On Saturday night (June 10th) an alert was sent by the Guardia Civil to provide assistance to a group of irregular immigrants who had arrived on the shores of the municipality of Arona in the south of Tenerife, after being intercepted by Maritime Rescue 10 miles from the coast.
The necessary resources were dispatched to provide assistance to the 159 people who were transferred to the port of Los Cristianos, 130 men and 29 minors (under 16s) respectively.
At the same time, Maritime Rescue intercepted another boat in Canaries waters with 37 occupants on board 50 miles from Arrecife (Lanzarote), which consisted of 27 men, 9 women and one child under six years old.
In the case of Los Cristianos, the Emergency Services Coordination Centre (CECOES) informed the Red Cross and the ERIE who specialise in humanitarian aid to immigrants at 10:57pm to head to the dock to meet the arrivals from West Africa.
15 specialized Red Cross volunteers participated in this operation, contributing their experience and dedication to support the work of assisting migrants, and providing hygiene kits, clothing, footwear, blankets and food, which are essential to cover the basic needs of people who arrive in this way to the islands. One person was taken to a health centre for treatment of different pathologies that he presented.
In the last month, several boats have been intercepted on their way to the Canary Islands, including Las Galletas and Los Cristianos in the south of Tenerife, with over 340 people on board.
