The Police begin the procedures to deport the 69 Bolivians from the cruise ship held in Barcelona

The authorities have already decided the fate of the 69 Bolivians who were traveling with false visas on a cruise ship that docked on Tuesday morning in the port of Barcelona. After two days with the vessel detained in cruise terminal C, these travelers disembarked this Thursday morning to undergo an administrative process for their deportation to Bolivia, at the company's expense. He MSC Harmonyfor its part, set sail at the end of the morning with the rest of the 1,500 passengers to continue its route to Venice, according to the agreement reached between the parties involved that EL PAÍS has learned about.

Once the disembarkation was completed, the 69 Bolivians – among whom there are 14 minors – have been transferred to a “transit zone”, where “they have been denied access to Spanish territory”, as reported by the Government Delegation. . The agents have set up a small office at the foot of the terminal to carry out the immigration procedures, which “will be carried out urgently so that they have the resolution as soon as possible.” Officials from the Bolivian Consulate and lawyers who are experts in immigration are present there to assist travelers.

Most likely, this procedure will culminate in the deportation of the 69 passengers to Bolivia. Although they can apply for asylum, expert sources on the matter consider that they have little chance of success, since their country does not meet the requirements for it. The passengers may argue, as their relatives maintain, that they were victims of deception by a travel agency that sold them an offer that included the cruise and a valid visa for Europe. Families traveling with children have a greater chance that their request may have some chance of being successful.

While these entry denial procedures are being processed, the Bolivians will be rehoused by MSC on a ferry that will arrive this afternoon from Livorno (Italy) and will remain anchored in the port of Barcelona. If their deportation is finally agreed upon, it will be done by air and will be paid for by the shipping company, which will presumably transport them back to La Paz. These passengers left their country in March and boarded the MSC Harmony in Brazil. His final intention, which most of them did not hide, was to arrive in Barcelona and settle in Spain to work and improve their living conditions.

With around 1,500 passengers on board, the ship arrived at the port of Barcelona at seven in the morning on Tuesday. There were then moments of confusion, since the entry denial procedure was not initially processed. This process is what is followed, for example, in irregular entries through airports: suspected passengers are transferred to a special admissions area and, while their situation is processed, the flight is allowed to continue. The port of Barcelona does not have an area with similar characteristics. The Police prevented the Bolivians from disembarking, although they did not hinder the ship from setting sail to its next destination. However, with Barcelona being the last stop before the cruise moved to France and Italy, the Spanish authorities have had to take charge of the situation.

Throughout Wednesday, negotiations took place at the highest level that involved various actors: the Government Delegation, the Police, the port of Barcelona, ​​the company and the Bolivian Embassy and a judge on duty from Barcelona. The agreement includes the installation of a refreshment, food and health care area in the terminal.

The ship left Santos (Brazil) on March 17 and had Venice as its last stop. Among the travelers, 69 Bolivians embarked, with an apparently valid visa to enter the Schengen area. This is how it was interpreted at least by the Brazilian authorities and the company itself, which when reviewing its documentation did not detect any anomaly. When the ship was already en route and heading to the Iberian Peninsula, MSC sent the documentation to the Spanish authorities, who confirmed the falsification of the visas. The Bolivians were no longer allowed to disembark in Malaga or in Barcelona, ​​which has forced all of the 1,500 passengers to remain there for part of these two days waiting to resolve the situation.

Sources familiar with the negotiations assure that MSC will be responsible for all expenses derived from the incident. To begin with, it has chartered a charter flight to Rome so that the 275 passengers of Brazilian origin, who disembarked at six in the morning, do not miss their fl
ight back to their country. The rest of the passengers will leave in the MSC Harmony, expected to start this noon, also heading to Rome. The ship was scheduled to dock first in Ajaccio (Corsica), but the company already announced to its passengers on Wednesday that it was not going to make that stop. MSC will also pay for the accommodation of the Bolivians on the ferry, as well as their deportation, if it finally occurs, to La Paz.

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