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Without food or drinking water and with the latent danger of dying, three men of sub-Saharan origin traveled clandestinely for 11 days on the rudder blade of an oil tanker, from the port of Lagos, Nigeria, to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria . Classified as stowaways and non-migrants under local law, they faced the risk of being expelled. However, the Government reported on November 30 that the men requested asylum, so the deportation was stopped.
The fight for survival is far beyond fiction. Dehydrated, fatigued and with symptoms of hypothermia, three Nigerian citizens were found in the rudder blade of an oil tanker, after a long, dangerous and in many cases fatal journey.
They covered 11 days, 264 hours and 4,600 kilometers just half a meter from touching the water with their feet. The area where they were found after their arrival on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria is a small space under the stern of the rudder where they were at the mercy of the sea since it can flood at any time with the waves.
The gruesome feat across the Atlantic, from the Nigerian port of Lagos, meant at all times the “maximum risk of dying,” explained Sofía Hernández, director of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, a Spanish government agency, which rescued the men.
The shocking image and its even more impressive odyssey recall the great risks taken by people in Africa fleeing famine and violence. According to the Spanish authorities, this is not the first time that some have decided to undertake the dangerous feat, which in many cases ends in death.
As if the tortuous journey wasn’t enough, the three men faced the risk of deportation. Spanish law does not classify people who undertake this type of journey as migrants, but rather as stowaways, for transporting furtively and irregularly.
For this reason, and after receiving medical attention, the authorities were preparing to return them in the same boat in which they arrived. However, in the last hours their story took a turn that for now allows them to remain in the country.
The three Nigerian citizens request asylum in Spain
A spokesman for the Spanish government delegation in the Canary Islands reported that the men requested asylum, for which the authorities authorized the Maltese-flagged oil tanker ‘Alithini II’ in which they arrived, to leave the port and continue its route without them.
Until this Wednesday, November 30, two of them had been returned to the ship where they remained on board waiting to be returned. However, from the boat they requested asylum, after a visit by police officers.
The third was still hospitalized recovering from dehydration and there he also requested international protection, after receiving a visit from a member of the migration secretariat of the Diocese of the Canary Islands, who offered him the help of the Church and the Caminando Fronteras collective.
Since their arrival, organizations such as the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), the Church, the African community in the Canary Islands and the NGO Caminando Fronteras mobilized in an attempt to prevent their expulsion from the Canary Islands as stowaways without, at least, assessing their Personal circumstances.
Despite the fact that the legal framework that classifies them as stowaways establishes that it is up to the captain of the boat to take charge of them and return them to the country of origin, like any foreigner who arrives at the Spanish borders, they have the right to request asylum or protection.
After the application and until your case is resolved, deportation is stopped.
His fate is uncertain. For now, the authorities must evaluate whether they meet any of the conditions established by the different international treaties where this figure is regulated.
With EFE and local media
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