11/09: 5 People stranded on Peñon de Alhoceimas pushed back to Morocco; 85 people rescued to Almeria

12.09.2020 / 01:51 / Western Mediterannean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 11th of September 2020
Case name: 2020_09_11-WM482
Situation: 4 men and 1 woman on Peñon de Alhoceimas pushed back to Morocco. 78 Men, 5 women, 2 children leave Bouyafar, rescued to Almeria by the Salvamento Maritimo.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the situation
Case 1
Mid-morning on 11 September, we were alerted to a group of travellers, 4 men and 1 woman, all from Cameroon who had landed on Peñon de Alhoceimas. Peñon de Alhoceimas is a Spanish islet just off the coast of Morocco. The group was met by the soldiers stationed on the islet. They were afraid of pushback so we alerted the world following tweet
This morning 4 men & 1 woman arrived at Peñón de Alhoceimas, a Spanish islet just 0,7km from Morocco with a permanent military base. They are with the soldiers since early this morning, the woman is sick. They are afraid they will be pushed back to Morocco!

But it did no good. We later learnt that they had been illegally pushed back to Morocco despite their request for asylum. We put out another tweet
Our fears have come true. Spanish authorities have returned the 5 ppl to Morocco. This is a clear violation of the law.They were returned without any administrative procedure and their right to asylum wasn't respected. We condemn this shameful behaviour by the Spanish authorities

Case 2
At around 11:00 CEST, we were alerted by a relative to a group of 85 travellers including 5 women and 2 children who had left from Bouyafar, Morocco just before midnight. We were not able to get a position or reach the travellers by phone. We contacted the Spanish search and rescue organisation, Salvamento Maritimo in Almeria. They took the information. We followed up, as agreed, with an email. The Salvamento Maritimo phoned back to say that they were not able to reach the travellers either. They asked us find a second phone number. We were unable to, but shortly after 16:00 we were informed by the relative that the travellers had been rescued.

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