The Ministry of the Interior manages the disembarkation in the port of Nouadibou (Mauritania) of 168 migrants who were rescued from a canoe by the Spanish patrol boat Río Tajo, according to Ministry sources this Sunday. The Spanish rescue patrol boat has been anchored in front of the port of the Mauritanian city since last Thursday with the rescued people on board, and some episodes of nerves and tension have already been recorded.
Without going any further, agents of the Rio Tagus Civil Guard had to shoot into the air last Saturday to try to contain the growing tension on board the patrol boat and quell possible attempts at mutiny on board. However, Interior assured this Sunday afternoon that the situation on board the ship is "calm on all sides" and that "at no time" has the option of transferring the 168 migrants to the Canary Islands been considered, where on the other hand they have arrived In the last hours, 409 migrants aboard six small boats in the waters of the Canary Islands.
The Ministry indicates that it is "in continuous talks" with the Mauritanian authorities "with whom there is an excellent relationship" to carry out the disembarkation.
The relationship with Mauritania, Interior insists, "are excellent", especially in terms of migration, and that "good proof of this" is that, while last year 2022 55 boats from the African country arrived on the coasts, in 2023 that number has been reduced to only five.
In this sense, Spain has maintained an agreement with Mauritania for a decade that allows the return to its ports of any migrant, regardless of their nationality, as long as they have left its coasts or transited through its territory.
AUGC, the professional association of the Civil Guard, has also collected information on the situation to denounce the "painful conditions" suffered by agents and migrants, which they attribute to the lack of cooperation from Mauritania, according to sources from this organization.
The professional association Justice for the Civil Guard (Jucil) also asks the General Directorate of this body to make "forceful decisions in the face of episodes of riots experienced on board and in which the integrity of the crew has been put at risk."
