Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of November 2020
Case name: 2019_11_22-WM531
Situation: 45 men and children leave Mauritania and arrive in the Canary Islands
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

In the early evening of 22 November we were contacted by the worried brother of a Mauritanian man who had left Mauritania, along with 44 other people, on 16 November in a pirogue aiming for the Canary Islands. The
relative had had no news of his brother or the boat. He was able to tell us that everybody on the boat was Mauritanian and that the group consisted entirely of men and children. There were no women.

We spent the next three days scouring the Internet for information and calling the
authorities on the Canary Islands. The authorities would neither confirm nor deny the arrival of such a boat and the Internet was ambiguous. We were not able to get hold of anyone from the boat and nor was the person who had contacted us.

Finally, on 26 November the brothers were able to make contact. We learned that group had arrived safely on Tenerife. Boza, welcome to Europe.