01/10: 6 people stranded on Chafarinas Islands, pushed back to Morocco

02.10.2020 / 16:51 / Western Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of October 2020

Case name: 20201001-WM492

Situation: 6 travellers were push backed from Chafarinas Islands to Morocco

Status of WTM Investigation: concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

On 1st of October 2020 the Alarm Phone got alerted at 03:15h CET. A relative informed about 6 people, among them 2 women and one of them pregnant. Communication was a bit difficult but situation got clearer in the next calls: The travellers stuck on one of the Chafarinas islands, small Spanish islands in front of the Moroccan coast. It was impossible to contact the travellers but the relative found out that they are on the Isla del Congreso. At 09:43h the shift team called SM Tarifa who said to forward the information. At 10:11h an email was sent to the competent authorities. Later on the Alarm phone published a tweet to make the situation public as we feared a push back to Morocco. The next hour the Alarm Phone was repeatedly referred to other authorities: The shift team called SM Tarifa who had no information but said Alarm Phone to call SM Almeria. They declared not to be responsible but a military person from the island and said Alarm Phone to call SM Madrid. However, they informed that the police of Spain is responsible because it was not a rescue operation and said Alarm Phone to call the Red Cross.

The shift team informed the relative about the possibility to call the Red Cross. At 13:30h the shift team called again SM Madrid to insist on a proper contact to the responsible authority. The officer asked the Alarm Phone to write an email which was done. Meanwhile no contact to the travellers could be established. The contact to the relative was good, he thanked to be not alone in this situation. At 14:45h the Alarm Phone called SM Madrid to ask for the contact. They said they are not allowed to share this information and hung up. When the authority was called two hours later they said to be searching but don’t have news.

Later the day the shift team learned via Twitter that the people were deported back and detained. Only the pregnant woman was set free.

Tweet chronology:

10:19h https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1311581301112270848

22:00h https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1311757819285209103

Last update: 09:17 Jan 19, 2021

Credibility:

Border police patrols
While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
Coastal radars
Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
Exclusive Economic Zone
Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
Frontex operations
Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
Mobile phone coverage
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
Oil and gas platforms
Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
Search and Rescue Zone
An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
Territorial Waters
A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans