Rescued

Migrant arrivals averaged just under 5,000 a year between 2010 and 2016. | EFE

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma08/07/2017 00:00
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The Guardia Civil and the National Police yesterday picked up 11 illegal immigrants which arrived by boat from North Africa over Thursday night. Eight were caught yesterday morning by a routine Guardia Civil patrol walking along the coast near Cap Blanc in the municipality of Lluchmajor. A few hours later the National Police picked up three more in Palma.The boat the 11 came ashore in was found off the Lluchmajor coast.

As soon as the Guardia Civil patrol spotted the eight individuals, air and maritime patrols were called in to search the area for more possible illegal immigrants but no more were found in the Cap Blanc area. All 11 are Algerian and yesterday underwent medical checks and were processed by the National Police.

This morning all 11 will appear before a magistrate in Palma and the process of deportation will begin. While that runs its course, the group will be transferred to an immigration holding centre on the mainland within 72 hours where they will remain until they are sent back to Algeria.

Yesterday afternoon, the Guardia Civil extended the search area and continued combing the area around Cap Blanc in case any more illegal immigrants came ashore. This latest incident is the ninth of its kind this year in the Balearics.

Last year, three boats carrying illegal immigrants were intercepted, in 2015 another three and 2014 just the two.
The Balearics boasts a special radar network designed to detect and track unidentified vessels in Balearic waters.