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The migrants who washed ashore in a small wooden boat in the Algarve on Friday will be repatriated, a Silves court judge ruled on Saturday afternoon.
The 38 migrants have 20 days to leave the country voluntarily, failing that, they will be forcibly expelled. They are to all remain in custody and temporarily housed in a pavilion in Sagres, provided by the Vila do Bispo council, which has been adapted to accommodate all migrants. A team of the the national gendarmerie force of Portugal GNR will be on site, supported by Civil Protection and the fire brigade.
On Saturday, after the judge’s decision became known, the Minister for the Presidency congratulated the speed of justice, saying that the Portuguese authorities “deserve a big congratulations”, and assured that Portugal maintains its “secure maritime borders”.
“Portugal has a large coastline, although we are vulnerable, the Portuguese authorities reacted quickly and effectively,” the minister told journalists. “The Portuguese coast is safe,” emphasised LeitĂŁo Amaro from OlhĂŁo in the Algarve.
Children and seven adults were not heard by the judge
Of the 38 migrants who managed to reach land, 25 are men, six are women and seven are children. All are aged between 12 months and 44 years.
The children and the adults accompanying them, as well as those who were still hospitalised, were not heard by the judge on Saturday. However, the adults will be brought to court within 48 hours at the latest, assured Major IlĂdio Barreiros, from the GNR’s Coastal and Border Control Unit.
The children will not be brought to court because they are minors, they have special protection. “Minors are protected under international law by a special regime and under Portuguese law,” explained Minister LeitĂŁo Amaro. Therefore, “the expulsion order is given to adults,” he emphasised.
With regard to possible asylum requests from the migrants, LeitĂŁo Amaro ruled out this possibility and asked people not to “speculate” on the matter or what “their destination will be”.
Five days at sea, four people died
The journey from Morocco will have taken five days and four people have died on the high seas, a businessman who was at the scene where the migrants landed at the end of the day on Friday told the online newspaper Observador.
“I spoke to a family with a one-year-old child. They said they came from Morocco. They asked me for water and tobacco. And also food. There was a couple on the beach who gave them food,” the witness told Observador. According to the businessman, as soon as they disembarked, the migrants sat down near a car park and “waited for help”.
Once the identification process and court hearings for all the adult migrants have been completed, the repatriation process should be forwarded to the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), the agency that has this administrative responsibility, GNR Major Barreiros explained.
