Migrants’ journey to the Algarve lasted 5 days and 4 are reported to have died.

The recent arrival of 38 migrants at Boca do Rio Beach, in Vila Nova do Bispo, has been marked by tragedy, as they are now expected to leave the country. The journey from Morocco reportedly took five days, during which four individuals allegedly lost their lives, according to a migrant who communicated with a local businessman accompanying the wooden boat’s arrival in the Algarve.

In a statement, Paulo Lourenço, a tourism businessman, recounted the moment the vessel neared the coast on Friday, being the first to interact with the migrants.

“I spoke with a family that had a one-year-old child. They said they were from Morocco. They asked me for water and tobacco. And also food. A couple on the beach gave them food,” he stated, adding that the migrants mentioned the journey lasted five days and a woman informed him that four people died during the crossing – information not yet confirmed by authorities.

After reaching shore, migrants awaited authorities’ arrival, showing no intent to flee. “They arrived at the beach parking lot, sat down, and waited for help,” the businessman detailed, noting they carried phones, supplies, and backpacks with some food.

“No asylum request. Removal will occur”

Later that day, Presidency Minister António Leitão Amaro, highlighted the authorities’ swift action, particularly the “courts which quickly decided and concluded with the order of removal from national territory.” “That is what will happen,” he declared from Olhão.

Asked whether there were any asylum requests from the detained migrants, Leitão Amaro responded that “there is currently no asylum request, and it is not worth speculating about the issue and their fate.”

“The important thing for the Portuguese to feel and understand is this: Portugal has a large coast, and although we are vulnerable, Portuguese authorities reacted quickly and effectively,” he stated.

When questioned about the migrants’ immediate fate, Leitão Amaro replied that they will remain “under the authorities’ custody” and “detained in a temporary installation center or similar” until they are removed from national territory.

Those facing removal orders will initially stay in a sports pavilion prepared by Civil Protection for this purpose, while alternative solutions in temporary or similar centers are sought.

On how long this process might take, Leitão Amaro could not yet provide an answer, recalling last year’s government request to Parliament to “allow speeding up the return regime.”

“At that time, most of the opposition defeated this request,” he recalled, anticipating some delays but promising “to expedite these procedures as quickly as possible, respecting law, rules, and people’s dignity, but enforcing Portuguese laws.”

Some individuals not yet heard due to hospitalization or attending to minor children

Prior to the Minister’s statements, the Court decided to house the migrants in a temporary installation center until the return process to their country is completed, which can be voluntary or coercive.

The on-duty judge from the Silves Court validated the 31 detentions for illegal immigration, according to Major Ilídio Barreiros from the Coastal and Borders Control Unit of GNR, stating that the remaining seven individuals who traveled on the boat have not yet been heard by the authorities because they are hospitalized or attending to minor children.

“We still have hospitalized migrants. We will identify them to then formalize the detention process for illegal entry into national territory,” he stated, explaining they will also go to court within the legal timeframe of 48 hours, but prioritizing their health.

The major reiterated that these migrants are quite vulnerable, echoing earlier comments highlighting their “weak condition, dehydration, and hypothermia” as evidence of them being “exposed to adverse weather conditions for several days.”

Portuguese authorities ensure they will prioritize the “protection and assistance of these people,” taking them to “a dignified location,” the GNR representative added.

The Civil Protection Service of Vila do Bispo’s City Hall has provided a sports pavilion in Sagres, which the major guarantees was set up “in very good conditions in a very short time.”

At the pavilion, migrants can shower and have been served meals, he added.

Ilídio Barreiros also noted that the coercive removal process has a legal timeframe of 60 days to be handled by the AIMA – Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum, with this administrative responsibility until August 21.

If the removal processes are not completed, the case will then be transferred to the Public Security Police (PSP), which will assume its new administrative responsibilities regarding return and removal.

The 25 men, six women, and seven minors, aged between 12 months and 44 years, will remain in the temporary shelter center until the process is concluded.

All migrants who disembarked on the beach are Moroccan and have illegally entered the Schengen area.

As confirmed by the GNR, the alert was given by the public around 20:10 when the wooden boat approached the Portuguese coast near Boca do Rio Beach.

The boat underwent a judicial inspection by the Criminal Investigation Nucleus of the Olhão Coastal Control Detachment and was later towed to Porto by the Maritime Patrol Section of the Sines Coastal Control Detachment.

This action by the Faro Territorial Command was also reinforced by other GNR units, namely the Beja Territorial Command and the Intervention Unit (UI). Besides the GNR and INEM, Civil Protection operatives and the Voluntary Firefighters of Vila do Bispo and Lagos were present.

The operational coordination for directing the migrants was further coordinated with the SSI – Internal Security System / UCFE – Border and Foreigners Coordination Unit, AIMA, and PSP.

In six years, 140 migrants disembarked on the Algarve coast

At least 140 migrants have landed on the Algarve coast over the last six years, according to a tally by Lusa based on news published since 2019.

The first case of a boat with immigrants on the Portuguese coast occurred nearly two decades ago, in December 2007: a group of 19 migrants allegedly from Morocco disembarked in the Ria Formosa, near Olhão.

The years 2019 and 2020 saw the most arrivals of migrants by boat in the Algarve.

Most migrants arriving in the Algarve over the past six years were identified and received expulsion orders, but there were also cases of escape, such as the group that managed to flee from the Tavira barracks.

In 2020, then-Internal Administration Minister, Eduardo Cabrita, stated it was premature to speak of a new migration route to Portugal compared to the “tens of thousands of arrivals in Spain,” particularly in the south, with boats crossing from Morocco.